If you are someone who still enjoys a good book, whether for pure enjoyment or as a way of learning and growing, I want to share my most recent recommended reading list of books.  These are books that have either landed on my desk and I’ve read, or have come highly recommended from folks who’s opinion I trust.

This isn’t the full extent of books that I recommend, there are far more than I have time or space to list.  These are books that resonate with me in this current phase of my artistic development and interests, ones that I’ve recently read (or re-read) to seek inspiration or growth.

Recommended Reading for Enjoyment

  • Out of Darkness, Alister Benn.  A simply fabulous book from Alisters time in the Gobi desert and the personal transformation that he went through as a result of it.  Filled with beautiful and expressive images, this book has a prominent place on my shelf!
  • A Hong Kong Memoir, Fan Ho.  I wish I owned a copy of this, but I do not. However, a friend of mine recently showed me his copy and I was stunned by the photographs and artistry from Fan Ho. If you want to see a master storyteller, his images are simply stunning. His work in Hong Kong in the 50’s and 60’s with what we could consider A collection of books from photographer Guy Talrudimentary equipment shows that it doesn’t matter what gear you have, it’s how you use it.
  • Complete Library of Guy Tal. Each and every one of Guys books are “must read” in my opinion.  His thoughts about art and creativity are expressed with the utmost consideration and are formed from years of study of the arts, psychology and philosophy to form his views on photography and art.  He is the finest author of our time in my opinion!
  • Yubi, Gentle Beauty, Dennis & Freida Hocking.  I was fortunate enough to order a copy when this book was first released.  It is now sold out, so you’ll have to look on the used/collector market for a copy of this.  It is a collection of photographs, based on Zen Haiku, which embrace the human sensibility and love of nature and simplicity and reflect the spiritual moods linked to the time of day i.e. Anticipation of dawn, Bright energy of daylight, Melancholy of dusk, Silent reflection of moonlight The book is hand-stiched in waxed linen and includes an introduction by Antony Spencer. The photographs represent our newer work and include some from our solo exhibition of the same name as well as others from our travels.

Recommended Reading for Learning

  • Art and Visual Perception, Rudolf Arnheim. This is a book that has been on my shelf for years and one that I read portions of at least a couple of time a year. It casts the visual process in psychological terms and describes the creative way one’s eye organizes visual material according to specific psychological premises. If you are wanting to create more compelling photographic compositions, this is one book that I highly recommend.
  • Photo Therapy Motivation and Wisdom: Discovering the Power of Pictures, Rick Sammon. He trusts this book will make you think – hard – about your photography, and about how using your brain, the best photo “accessory,” will help you become a better photographer.
  • Creative Courage, Welby Altidor. Creative Courage challenges you to step outside of your comfort zone and truly make an impact. Set aside the same old routine and break the status quo―because you can only rise to new heights if you first smash the ceiling.  If you are looking for strategies to boost your creativity, in photography and in life, this book has a ton of helpful strategies to re-shape the way you go about life and the world around you.
  • Perception and Imaging: Photography as a way of Seeing, John Suler & Richard Zakia. When you look at an image, what do you see, think, and feel? How do you want your audience to react when they view your work? For over 30 years the late Richard Zakia helped photographers enrich their creative vision through his classic book, Perception and Imaging. Now he is joined by co-author John Suler who extensively studied and worked with images throughout his career as a clinical psychologist. Whether you are a beginner or a professional, this information will help you appreciate photography not simply as a mastering of technique and composition, but as a way of truly seeing, especially now in the digital age.
  • Experiencing Art in the Brain of the Beholder, Arthur Shimamura. In a thoughtful and entertaining manner, the book explores how the brain interprets art by engaging our sensations, thoughts, and emotions. It describes interesting findings from psychological and brain sciences as a way to understand our aesthetic response to art.

As you can see from the recommended reading list above, I’m spending time and energy learning more about how we humans process visual information as a way of growing my artistic skills and hopefully creating more compelling photographs.  It’s not that I necessarily want to “please an audience” and “shoot for other people”.  That’s not why I’m doing this.  I’m doing this to grow myself and my own understanding of photography and visual art to improve my work.  I am always in favor of continual improvement! One of the reasons I love photography is that I see it as a form of visual communication as well as a method for eliciting pleasing feelings in folks who see them, which in turn hopefully sends that positive energy out in to the world.  If I can improve myself and the images I create, then I receive a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction from that.  If my images somehow “touch” another person through my ability to create more compelling photographs, then that’s even better!