Book picks similar to
The Life of a Photograph by Sam Abell


photography
non-fiction
art
art-photography

Humans of New York


Brandon Stanton - 2013
    With four hundred color photos, including exclusive portraits and all-new stories, Humans of New York is a stunning collection of images that showcases the outsized personalities of New York.Surprising and moving, Humans of New York is a celebration of individuality and a tribute to the spirit of the city.

Photoshop Compositing Secrets: Unlocking the Key to Perfect Selections & Amazing Photoshop Effects for Totally Realistic Composites


Matt Kloskowski - 2011
    Everywhere you look, from group photos, to school graduation or sports portraits, to magazines, movie posters, and DVD covers, chances are, you ve seen compositing. In "Photoshop Compositing Secrets," Matt Kloskowski takes you through the entire process behind creating convincing, well-executed, and captivating composites. You ll see how to create images that run the gamut from real-world portraits for corporate, graduation, or group photos to sports portraits, templates, and collages, and even the surreal, dramatic composites that clients clamor for. You'll learn: One of the most important secrets to compositing: how to master selections in Photoshop (yes, even wispy hair), What background color, and camera and lighting setups work best for compositing, How to move a subject from one background to another, and the Photoshop lighting and shadowing techniques to make it look real, And all the Photoshop tips, tricks, and special effects you need to pull off a convincing, professional composite. No matter if you're a professional, an aspiring professional, or a hobbyist, "Photoshop Compositing Secrets "will sharpen your skills and open up a whole new avenue of photographic expression in an easy-to-understand way that will have you creating your own composites in no time.

The Oldest Living Things in the World


Rachel A. Sussman - 2014
    Over the past decade, artist Rachel Sussman has researched, worked with biologists, and traveled the world to photograph continuously living organisms that are 2,000 years old and older. Spanning from Antarctica to Greenland, the Mojave Desert to the Australian Outback, the result is a stunning and unique visual collection of ancient organisms unlike anything that has been created in the arts or sciences before, insightfully and accessibly narrated by Sussman along the way. Her work is both timeless and timely, and spans disciplines, continents, and millennia. It is underscored by an innate environmentalism and driven by Sussman’s relentless curiosity. She begins at “year zero,” and looks back from there, photographing the past in the present.  These ancient individuals live on every continent and range from Greenlandic lichens that grow only one centimeter a century, to unique desert shrubs in Africa and South America, a predatory fungus in Oregon, Caribbean brain coral, to an 80,000-year-old colony of aspen in Utah. Sussman journeyed to Antarctica to photograph 5,500-year-old moss; Australia for stromatolites, primeval organisms tied to the oxygenation of the planet and the beginnings of life on Earth; and to Tasmania to capture a 43,600-year-old self-propagating shrub that’s the last individual of its kind. Her portraits reveal the living history of our planet—and what we stand to lose in the future. These ancient survivors have weathered millennia in some of the world’s most extreme environments, yet climate change and human encroachment have put many of them in danger. Two of her subjects have already met with untimely deaths by human hands. Alongside the photographs, Sussman relays fascinating – and sometimes harrowing – tales of her global adventures tracking down her subjects and shares insights from the scientists who research them. The oldest living things in the world are a record and celebration of the past, a call to action in the present, and a barometer of our future.

The Photographer's Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas


Jason Fulford - 2014
    The Photographer's Playbook features photography assignments, as well as ideas, stories and anecdotes from many of the world's most talented photographers and photography professionals. Whether you're looking for exercises to improve your craft--alone or in a group--or you're interested in learning more about the medium, this playful collection will inspire fresh ways of engaging with photographic process. Inside you will find advice for better shooting and editing, creative ways to start new projects, games and activities and insight into the practices of those responsible for our most iconic photographs--John Baldessari, Tina Barney, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Jim Goldberg, Miranda July, Susan Meiselas, Stephen Shore, Alec Soth, Tim Walker and many more. The book also features a Polaroid alphabet by Mike Slack, which divides each chapter, and a handy subject guide. Edited by acclaimed photographers Jason Fulford and Gregory Halpern, the assignments and project ideas in this book are indispensable for teachers and students, and great fun for everyone fascinated by taking pictures.Jason Fulford is a photographer and cofounder of the non-profit publisher J&L Books. He has lectured at more than a dozen art schools and universities and is a contributing editor to Blind Spot magazine. Fulford's photographs have been featured in Harper's, the New York Times Magazine, Time, Blind Spot, Aperture, and on book jackets for Don DeLillo, John Updike, Bertrand Russell, Jorge Luis Borges, Terry Eagleton, Ernest Hemingway and Richard Ford. His published books include Sunbird (2000), Crushed (2003), Raising Frogs for $$$ (2006), The Mushroom Collector (2010) and Hotel Oracle (2013).Gregory Halpern received a BA in history and literature from Harvard University and an MFA from California College of the Arts. His third book of photographs, entitled A, is a photographic ramble through the streets of the American Rust Belt. His other books include Omaha Sketchbook and Harvard Works Because We Do. He currently teaches at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Moments: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographs: A Visual Chronicle of Our Time


Hal Buell - 1999
    More than 235 prize-winning photographs offer a year-by-year, dramatically visual chronicle of our times. Each beautifully reproduced image is accompanied by key information on how the shot was taken and the stunning story behind it, as told to author Hal Buell by the photographers. An accompanying timeline, placing each photo in its historical context, features yet another 265 photographs.This unique and moving volume is completely up to date, including the 2000-2001 winners. Recent photos include images of students fleeing Columbine High School and the striking shot of federal agents taking Elian Gonzales from the arms of his relatives at gunpoint.

Camera Solo


Patti Smith - 2011
    Exquisitely designed and produced, Patti Smith: Camera Solo accompanies the first museum exhibition of the artist's photography in the United States.Using either a vintage Land 100 or a Land 250 Polaroid camera, Smith photographs subjects inspired by her connections to poetry and literature as well as pictures that honor the personal effects of those she admires or loves. In the catalogue's interview, conducted by Susan Lubowsky Talbott, the artist talks about her "respect for the inanimate object" as well as the talismanic qualities of things in her life. We see, for instance, a picture of Mapplethorpe's slippers or a porcelain cup that belonged to her father, and are drawn into their intimacy and quiet power. Moreover, these images reveal how the camera has proven to be a means for Smith to retreat—undisturbed—to "a room of my own."From her explorations as a visual artist in the 1960s and 70s and her profound influence on the nascent punk rock scene in the late 1970s and 80s, to Just Kids, her National Book Award-winning memoir of life with her beloved friend Robert Mapplethorpe, Smith continues to make an indelible mark on the American cultural landscape.

The Art of the Snowflake: A Photographic Album


Kenneth Libbrecht - 2007
    As miraculous a feat of nature as the snowflakes has been, have we ever been truly able to appreciate this infinitesimal wonder in all its crystalline glory? Art of the Snowflake, as much a work of art as a testament to science, reveals how one of the snowflake's most inspired photographers came to such intimate knowledge of his craft and its fleeting focus. Beautiful pictures illustrate Kenneth Libbrecht's story of the microphotography of snow crystals, from the pioneering work of Wilson Bentley in the 1890s right up to Ken's own innovations in our age of digital images. A breathtaking look at the works of art that melt in an instant, this is a book to flip through and savor, season after season.

The Atlas of Beauty: Women of the World in 500 Portraits


Mihaela Noroc - 2017
    The Atlas of Beauty is a collection of her photographs that celebrates women from fifty countries across the globe and shows that beauty is everywhere, regardless of money, race or social status, and comes in many different sizes and colours. Mihaela's portraits feature women in their native environments, from the Amazon rain forest to markets in India, London city streets and parks in Harlem, creating a mirror of our varied cultures and proving that beauty has no rules.'Stunning . . . aims to challenge the ideals of beauty dictated by the women's fashion magazine industry' Independent'A startling and revealing project' Daily Mail'Scrolling through "The Atlas of Beauty", beauty becomes not a universal standard, but a complicated tapestry' Huffington Post

Paris in Bloom


Georgianna Lane - 2017
    From elegant floral boutiques to lively flower markets to glorious blooming trees and expansive public gardens, flowers are the essential ingredient to the lush sensory bouquet that is Parisian life. With beautiful photography, Paris in Bloom transports readers on a stunning floral tour of the city, and provides recommendations to the best flower markets and a detailed guide to spring blooms. Timeless in content, Paris in Bloom is a book for Paris lovers to savor again and again, one to keep on the nightstand to conjure fond memories of their first visit and inspire dreams of the next. Also Available: Paris in Bloom 2019 Wall Calendar (ISBN: 978-1-4197-3004-7)

The Education of a Photographer


Charles H. Traub - 2006
    What does it mean to become a photographer in the twenty-first century? This thoughtful collection of essays illuminates the spirit of the people who make the indelible images of our times. Aspiring and professional photographers—especially those in arts programs throughout the United States—will appreciate the comprehensive vision of The Education of a Photographer. Classic writings from the twentieth century as well as the thoughts of the most influential talents working today, plus essays from designers, editors, and gallery owners, make this a compelling look at what drives and inspires photographers to create great work.

Before They Pass Away


Jimmy Nelson - 2013
    With globalization, these societies are to be prized for their distinctive lifestyles, art and traditions. They live in close harmony with nature, now a rarity in our modern era. Jimmy Nelson not only presents us with stunning images of customs and artifacts, but also offers insightful portraits of people who are the guardians of a culture that they--and we--hope will be passed on to future generations in all its glory. Nelson's large-plate field camera captures every intricate detail and fine nuance for posterity. What's more, this splendid pageantry is set against a vivid backdrop of some of the world's most pristine landscapes. English/German/French edition.

National Geographic Stunning Photographs


Annie Griffiths - 2014
    Shot by National Geographic's most renowned photographers and peppered throughout with inspiring quotations, Stunning Photographs is a vibrant tapestry of images that showcases the medium's ability to reveal extraordinary moments of wit and discovery, harmony and intimacy, energy and joy. Definitive, striking, and always unstaged, the remarkable pictures in this book will appeal to all who want to enjoy the smorgasbord of colors, textures, and sensations that comprise the fabric of everyday life.

On Being a Photographer: a Practical Guide


David Hurn - 1997
    On Being a Photographer has become one of the most popular books ever written with practical advice for photographers.

The Ballad of Sexual Dependency


Nan Goldin - 1999
    As Goldin writes: "Real memory, which these pictures trigger, is an invocation of the color, smell, sound, and physical presence, the density and flavor of life."

Fast Track Photographer, Revised and Expanded Edition: Leverage Your Unique Strengths for a More Successful Photography Business


Dane Sanders - 2010
    But in this empowering guide, acclaimed photographer and speaker Dane Sanders reveals that the key to success is to stop worrying about what everyone else is doing and start focusing on your most powerful resource: you. Discover how to: ·        Use your unique skills and talents to carve out a niche all your own. ·        Avoid the mistakes most photographers make.·        Choose a business style that fits the way you want to spend your time—and live your life. Fast Track Photographer is not just another how-to book—it’s an entirely fresh way of thinking about your business, whether you’re just starting out, or an industry veteran wondering why all your hard work isn’t working. If you want to build a competition-proof creative business in the twenty-first century, it’s time to throw out the old rulebook and get on the fast track! Includes free access to Dane’s popular self-assessment test (a $20 value) to jumpstart your journey!"I can't think of a better way for anyone to start their professional photo career than to read Fast Track Photographer."—Scott Bourne, publisher and host of Photofocus.com  "As much about finding out who you are as it is about how to become a truly great photographer. Highly recommended!”—Amit Gupta, founder of Photojojo.com“This book is worth its weight in gold.”—Gary Fong, photographer, author, and creator of the Lightsphere“The best resource for today’s photographer—BAR NONE!”—Scott Sheppard, host of “Inside Digital Photography”