For photography learners, the first thing they need is technical help. But there are few such good books, because the practicality of photography leads to the best technology of first-line photographers. They are busy taking jobs to make money, and only the third and fourth lines do training and education. This is the case all over the world, and so are most of the translations translated into China.
For example, in the book Light Distribution, the photos taken by the author are so poor. Is their technology credible? The most mainstream and entry-level cloth lamp in fashion circle is a large area soft light lamp. I think a reliable light distribution book should first talk about light boxes or reflective umbrellas, and how to use a lamp combined with light boxes or reflective umbrellas as basic portrait lighting. But these books should first introduce Rembrandt light, which is a kind of light that is difficult to use. They tell you how wonderful the triangle is, but they don't remind you how uncontrollable the shadow next to your nose is. Too dark, too dirty, too emotional, too picky. Not suitable for women or Asians. I think their ability and taste are seriously out of touch with the cutting edge.
Books beyond technology play a key role in broadening our horizons, cultivating our taste and understanding photography deeply. But I wouldn't recommend books like On Photography or The Bright Room. People who meet the art circle will often be educated if they talk more occasionally: you don't need to look at the theory to engage in art, but you can't engage in art just by looking at the theory. On the other hand, I often see some classmates in Zhihu. At first glance, they look very white, but I seriously tell others that you must read books on photography before you can get started.
I think you have confused two concepts: comment and theory. Learning photography should first look at the history of photography, not theory. (Even the history of photography is an introduction. First of all, we must face first-class works. We should know what people have done in history, accept their inspiration, and at the same time don't close the door to see what new things we can do. In essence, the history of photography is a kind of comment. When we want to know about contemporary photography practice, we should also look at relevant comments. But On Photography is closer to theory than criticism, and Bright Room is a complete theory. The difference between the two is that comment is an exposition of concrete practice, while theory takes practice as an argument of theoretical discourse. The most important thing for theoretical researchers is self-certification, which can extract the thread part suitable for theoretical logic in practice. The core of these two expositions lies in thinking about the essence of photography, and I don't deny that they are both very good books at this point. Under another theme, I also recommend it. But I still think the theory book has more practical recommendations.
Generally speaking, there are not many good books, but over the years, I have accumulated a few worth sharing.
Modifier category:
This is the related book on my shelf. I recommend these two books:
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I read this introductory book. Its advantage is that it can be developed through various practical cases, instead of giving you the buttons on the popular interface first. As for the curve, I see its flexible application. But I think only good, except other books, are not good. I don't know the publishing situation in these two years. Maybe there are better books. Besides, it should be out of print. You can look for it on Taobao.
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It is also out of print, but it is highly recommended. I just went to Douban, and the score was 9. 1. The author is definitely a professional and intelligent person, and the whole structure is arranged properly and step by step. There are some secrets that can't be passed on. I remember a section about how to add particles. I studied it and told a first-line photographer that he was very helpful.
Keep moving forward
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There are some good technologies in it. I used it to grind the small stones of Guo Tao and his son, and made the following two works. Yes, "Where is Dad going?" It wasn't filmed yet.
In addition, I recommend these two books, which are very impressive, but not easy to read.
These are on my bookshelf. But unfortunately, it is almost not recommended. There is only one copy, "The Light of Photography in America", and only one section about texture is recommended. There is also a book called "Photography Lighting Innovation Course", which has the advantage of being relatively thick, so it is more advanced than other books.
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Learning to transmit light can only find other ways, and it is not recommended to watch teaching videos. I visited a David Howie before, and the experience was quite bad. Maybe there is a better one now.
Cloth is a craft that can only be learned in the workshop. Foreign schools are better, so the first way is to study abroad. The other is to be an assistant to a first-line photographer. My experience is quite special. I worked with domestic first-line photographers when I was in a magazine, so I learned the principle of lighting. When you want to shoot by yourself, you can study the lighting style by taking tidbits and combining the works of foreign photographers. About this, I will write an answer about the recommended website in a couple of days.
Posture class
There are about two or three books on the market, all of which are amateurs and are not recommended.
I have realized a systematic method of learning to pose, which is the theme of part of my portrait series Live. Here is a preview. Recommended index:
History of photography
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Solemnly recommend. However, due to translation problems, I bought the Taiwan Province version on Taobao. This book is an extension of the six-episode documentary "BBC Photography Romance". You can watch the documentary first and then read the book. Documentaries are also wonderful, just like books: they are told through themes rather than time clues. This in itself constitutes a critical view of practical history. This book started with the invention of the camera, so the proportion of introducing contemporary photography is not high. Just add the following books:
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You also need to buy the regional edition of Taiwan Province Province. This book is not as good as The Spirit of Photography, but it is also very good. It is also composed of themes, which divides all kinds of contemporary photography into seven theme categories. If you want to do artistic photography, you can find the category you are interested in after reading it, and then continue to learn more, collect information and establish personal photography history clues. Or you just want to know what the puzzling contemporary photography is all about, so read this book.
Keep moving forward
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After reading The Spirit of Photography, I feel unsatisfied. You can get more historical materials through this book. In fact, The History of World Photography is not bad, but the photography mentioned in that book is not only artistic photography, but also not worth recommending in terms of length.
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After reading This is Contemporary Photography, if you feel dissatisfied, you can read this book. There are still a few books to read, so I won't talk about them here.
Art history category
Classical art is not recommended. If you have to read it, choose an art history of Zhan Sen or Gardner. It is suggested to look at modern and contemporary art, which is "quick success and instant benefit", but as far as creative practice is concerned, the closer to history, the more valuable it is.
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As for modern art, I am surprised that I have never read this book. This is almost the best art history I can imagine. It was written and expanded by Robert Hughes for a BBC TV series. Although it is written for the public, the depth does not shrink and it is full of fun. The language of discussion is a beautiful long sentence. Although there are problems in translation, I can still feel the density and freshness of thinking. Sometimes it is very sharp, from which we can see his critical position on maintaining the traditional integrity of this modernist elite. There are a series of successful but kitsch models in the pedigree of modern and contemporary artists, and Robert Hughes is full of ridicule for them. For example, he said andywarhol: "Among the artists valued in the 20th century, perhaps no one except SardoVaDali spent so much time and skill to impress others". He started as a commercial illustrator and finally became a commercial illustrator.
I am very interested in his critical position. I searched the Internet and saw that he called Jeff Koons "flattering and clumsy offense to art, just like a Baptist selling swamps in Florida." "If it weren't for him, you wouldn't imagine how corrupt American culture is." The funniest thing is that he said damien hirst, "Are sharks dangerous? In 2007, the number of people killed by sharks in the world was 1. In contrast, houseflies are really vicious killers. Maybe Hearst should grab one and embed it in a magnifying glass for sale. " I find the author charming.
This book should be out of print. The binding is poor I bought two books and the thread is about to open.
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There is no good translation of contemporary art at present, and this book was recommended by Yi Ying. The introduction of this phenomenon is numerous and confusing, but there are few comments on it. Physical books are expensive. You can buy an e-book on Amazon China.
interview
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After reading this book, I was shocked by the unique martial arts in the contemporary photography circle, which expanded my imagination of the content and technical boundary of photography artists. The interview was good, not an old face at all. The interviewer has a high ability to talk with people, and she also wrote a beautiful preface, which discussed the relationship between the artist's self-world and public space. Recommended!
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It is said that Alesoth is a shy person, but he is very talkative when it comes to his works. This book can be read with his works. All kinds of enlightening conversations, for example, he said that some of his works are prose and some are poetry.
comment
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I like Woodman's works. There are several in-depth comments on her in this book.
theory
Recommend some theoretical books to everyone. These books are recommended because they refer to relatively new contemporary photography works, such as the works of photographers such as Jeff Wall and Thomas Ralph. I think it is of reference value to understand the specific practice of contemporary art photography.
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