I have long suspected that my preference for physical books to e-readers stem from my early education in film photography, where I learned to love the texture and weight of film prints in my hands. I enjoy reading fiction and nonfiction alike, but I tend to donate those books after I read them. The only exception is photography books.
Michael Freeman’s book, The Photographer’s Eye, is the staple of my photo book collection. It is a classic teaching manual on the fundamentals of making a great photograph. Michael Freeman offers theory on design, color, contrast, and intent without being overly technical in his language. When I first got this book, I was already 3 years into my photography career, but I held onto it because of the level of detail in which Freeman discusses the key elements of photography.
My resolution for 2013 is to read one photo book a month. I revisited The Photographer’s Eye for my January book since it is a great refresher on photography fundamentals. For February, I’ll be reading David Duchemin’s Photographically Speaking, follow along!
What else should I be reading? Leave a recommendation below.
Just-In-Time Travels 
Homer, Plato, Plutarch, Nietzsche, Goethe…lol…ok…well…something from Ansel Adams of course 🙂
Ansel Adams, I read a ton of his stuff when I was doing film. Great suggestion.
I think there are books for technique…and then there are books that can get the creative juices excited…that is why I mentioned those other books:)
I’ve read great reviews about David DuChemin’s “Within the Frame”. I plan on reading it this year, sometime very soon!
I actually just purchased that book too and have added to my reading list. You might see it on here as one of my books for the spring =)
Tracy, Anton Corbijn is my all-time favourite photographers and that’s probably because I love rock n roll and raw-edged photography. Because of him, I explored B&W film photos and the use of lomos. Anton’s work is edgy, filled with imperfections but the compositions are flawless. He has released a hard-cover book of his works with the band U2 and in the next few days, he will be releasing a book of his works with Tom Waites. His film work is also exceptional and always contains an undercurrent of biblical taboos (his dad was a churchman, that’s probably why) from his music videos with Depeche Mode and Joy Division. You can get a video of his filmworks under the Director’s Label series. As a director, photographer and producer myself, it’s worth the money. Endless hours of pleasure. CheerZ!
– persis shanker –
checked out some work from Anton Corbijn, lots of high contrast black & whites indeed. Very dramatic and moody work, seems like it would be right up my alley. Thanks for sharing!
The link to the photo above is not working! Thanx for sharing the post, I am someone, who needs hands on leearning, whiuch is why i am noit into reading books, but have read lots of internet based information