How important is it to study photography through the library? What books do you recommend for beginners? What are the best photo books?
>>4465912Once you have the basics down, it really depends. You gotta remember that just because information is in a book, it does not mean that it's useful, relevant, contemporary or even true. My preferred method of study is to go through photo books of popular artists I like, and then write down what I like about each picture, articulating which techniques they used and how it compliments the messages in the body of work. I find this way it helps you fit techniques into your own style moreso than just mimicking another artists whole process.
>>4465913Extremely based This is the best advice plus pic related Art stems from art. It is total fucking bullshit that you can be a great photographer without getting inspired from other great photographers. You gotta mix and merge your influences and see where it leads to develop your own unique style. Experience on its own doesn't leads you anywhere, it is modern mental illness that if you become sincere your art will somehow become great over night. You can only develop your art by standing on the shoulders of giants. Study and practice both go hand in hand. Final word on gear is that camera is nothing more than an empty box. Right tools for the right job is the motto. All depends what you want to achieve and then select your tools according. Always work with the best tools available but you gotta know what you want. If you can't afford best tools then you gotta work with what's available. Limitations(even in art) are great, they teach us a lot of great things.
Here's some great advice from /lit/:Creativity is mostly the invocation of tropes your brain has subconsciously picked up on but you're not aware of. That's why when you have a group of beginners on a similar creative pursuit (e.g. film school) they all put out very similar shit (e.g. the student short about suicide or hitmen, the opening scene where an alarm clock goes off, the shot inside a fridge, etc.) even though they're not consciously trying to recreate the same thing, they just happen to share the same set of references that they've picked up from other places.Most of the time, people have a very narrow and unimpressive arsenal of templates to recruit from, because the human memory is really bad for art. Memorizations requires repetition over time, so even your "passive" memory needs to see something several times before you can use it, which means more often than not you're just writing things that are so cliche and predictable that your brain has learned to emulate from constant exposition to it.This is also, btw, why a lot of people consider drugs a good creative enhancement. The same way people under the influence often see or remember things from their past that they had completely forgotten about, they also start using things that their memory has sort of buried because it was not seen as frequently as the stuff closer to the surface, so the odds are that it's a lot more unique.
>>4465924So if you want to improve your craft, the trick is memorization, it's to replace your current arsenal with a new one through the practice of repetition. Read passages you liked again and again, read a particular phrase you enjoyed again and again, drill anything you like into your brain until you can write it yourself from memory. Read the same book again and again, engaging different parts of your brain: read it, read it making a closer inspection of the language, then read it again paying more attention to the rhythm and how things flow, etc. Once your subconscious grabs those and breaks them into something more abstract, it will intuitively spill into your writing. And of course, practice, but practice while rejecting the stuff that feels too easy or automatic. Learn to engage a deeper set of tools you have but you don't often use, ignore the stuff that comes easily and wait for the stuff that needs its time to arrive, it will become easier to find that spot later if you do it often.
>>4465912>What books do you recommend for beginners?On Being a Photographer(chapter on subject is essential) by David Hurn >What are the best photo books?My favorite photographers/photobooks: >A Hunter by Daido Moriyama >William Mumler>Ravens by Masahisa Fukase >Eugene Atget>Drum by Krass Clement>Paris by Night by Brassai >William Mortensen >Edward S Curtis >Emmet Gowin >The Eye of War by Dieter Keller >Last Cosmology by Kikuji Kawada >The Pond by John Gossage >Joan Fontcuberta(early work)
This thread is off to an interesting start, thanks anons.
>>4465924Creativity may be mostly the invocation of tropes if you set out to make the dullest franchise in the history of movie franchises. Seriously each episode following the boy wizard and his pals from Hogwarts Academy as they fight assorted villains has been indistinguishable from the others. Aside from the gloomy imagery, the series’ only consistency has been its lack of excitement and ineffective use of special effects, all to make magic unmagical, to make action seem inert.Perhaps the die was cast when Rowling vetoed the idea of Spielberg directing the series; she made sure the series would never be mistaken for a work of art that meant anything to anybody? Just ridiculously profitable cross-promotion for her books. The Harry Potter series might be anti-Christian (or not), but it’s certainly the anti-James Bond series in its refusal of wonder, beauty and excitement. No one wants to face that fact. Now, thankfully, they no longer have to.>a-at least the books were good though"No!"The writing is dreadful; the book was terrible. As I read, I noticed that every time a character went for a walk, the author wrote instead that the character "stretched his legs."I began marking on the back of an envelope every time that phrase was repeated. I stopped only after I had marked the envelope several dozen times. I was incredulous. Rowling's mind is so governed by cliches and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing. Later I read a lavish, loving review of Harry Potter by the same Stephen King. He wrote something to the effect of, "If these kids are reading Harry Potter at 11 or 12, then when they get older they will go on to read Stephen King." And he was quite right. He was not being ironic. When you read "Harry Potter" you are, in fact, trained to read Stephen King.
>>4466021Wrong. Thread is trash so far. Recommending to sniff the farts of other photographets won't help anyone. What a shit board /p/ has become.Completely useless.
>>4465912>How important is it to study photography through the library?I got all my inspiration to pursue photography from watching cinema and that's still where I get a lot of inspiration for framing. I don't like people to look at the camera for this very reason. My advice is to watch movies a lot.
>>4465912>>4466176I also got a lot of inspiration from art books, especially Van Gogh and Picasso. You will have different tastes but, when you find an artist whose work you like, devour it. >Good artists copy; great ones steal.
>>4466027>1984 above Brave New World
This is one of the best threads in the catalog right now. There are lots of photo books from famous photographers available online as PDFs for free if you're willing to download them from sketchy Russian sites. Very interested to see the suggestions from other anons.
>>4466197Anon, don't you realize the recs are garbage?
>>4466198some are, some aren't. I trust that I am discerning enough to look at a recommended artist and tell if it is any good or not
>>4466202>I am discerning enough to look at a recommended artist and tell if it is any good or notYou are not. You're a pleb shitting up /p/ with newb faggotry and retarded opinions.gtfo >>>/reddit/
>>4465912>What books do you recommend for beginners?Used ones. Most of the books that Hedgecoe wrote were pretty decent, especially given that you can usually find them for next to nothing at used book stores; the Photographer's Handbook covers everything from the basic operating principles of cameras to darkroom work and his specialized books are hit-and-miss. Practical Landscape Photography is excellent but I wasn't impressed with his book on nudes.Worth noting is that pretty much all of them assume you're going to be using film, though. Lots of information in there about doing random crap with film that's been the domain of digital-post processing for decades now and on top of that there's nothing about DOING said digital post-processing so your mileage may vary.
>>4466276Next time make your bait more subtle.
>>4466027The art of Harry Potter is its world that makes you think you beling in it and you like the idea of being there. That's it. Eveyhing else (including assorted villains, movies, videogames, and Rowling's shitposting on Twitter) is secondary.> But Rowling is le badYeah, maybe. A better writer had all the time in the world to step up and write a better book about a magical school, but he didn't and now it's too late.
>>4466027(((Ayn rand))) singlehandedly convinced americans that if they didnt let corporations fuck them over then they could not have freedom themselvesEthical consistency: the undoing of man
>>4466027I lurk /lit/ and have read at least one title from every tier, I will allow this list with the exception of >>4466181who is absolutely spot on, 1984 and Brave New World need to both be in high-tier due to their relevance to modern society.t. currently reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, hate on British lit all you want, fuck you I like it.
>>4466437>tehe you're just baiting lolLeave shitbag. You will never belong here.
>>4466583Kek, I have been here since 2015. Here's your (You).
>>4466590>I have been here since 2015fuck off newfag
>>4466597The one I am talking to was probably born in 2008.
>>4465924yeah im not taking advice from a board full of people that cant write something to save their livesat least people here can take decent photossometimes great photos too
>>4466739Most of the people that use that board dont even speak english as their first language.
>>4466739Your loss >at least people here can take decent photosIf you know your photo history you'll see that 99.9% posters on this board are noobs.
>>4466027Your god-tier tells me you are a high school student. Every year the juniors are very impressed by those, bc they’ve never been faced with even a basic literary criticism class and have no idea how to think critically about what they’ve read. You might as well have put Superman & Batman comic books in your god tier. Your grasp of film doesn’t appear to be any deeper. considering that, I’d sooner trust a silverback gorilla to give me a prostate exam without using his hands than get a photo rec from you. How embarrassing for you.
>>4466599Wrong you little zoomer shit. Go back >>>/reddit/ where you belong.
>>4466868Fuck you illiterate boomer.
>>4466870>snowflake breaks out crying after being called out for shitting up /p/You will never belong here.Just leave you fag >>>/reddit/
>>4467110Imagine larping as a musician and not listening to music made by masters and then hating other people for listening to music. You're retarded bro.
>>4466027Holy underage retard
>>4465924Any link to the thread?
>>4472695Not much in that thread except that post but here's the link https://warosu.org/lit/thread/17106698#p17106874
>>4465912>How important is it to study photography through the library?If you want to become a slop producing instagrammer it's fundamental.If you still want to have your own individuality, just take photos
>>4472700>imagine listening to music as a musician I am sure you also learned how to talk on your own when you were a baby
>>4472711>I am sure you also learned how to talk on your own when you were a babylmao, you're so close to getting it
>>4472717>english language was programmed into me before I was born and I didn't learn it from anyone
>>4472724The English your mother "teaches" you is just the bare minimum to communicate with other people. If you want to write poetry with your own style without being a worthless copy of othwr famous poets you have to do an introspective journey.If you start reading too much poetry you will pick up on all the cliches and will end up creating slop full of citations. Your poetry will become "meta", dogwhistling to everyone "HEY CAN YOU GUESS WHICH POETS I TAKE INSPIRATION FROM??? HERE'S AN EPIC MASHUP OF THEM WITHOUT ANY ORIGINALITY!"
>>4472700anon, there's the talentless losers who need rules and guidance to take "technically correct" photos. they lack the photographic eye. they have no imagination. books are for them. not for us who just see the image unfolding
>>4472774Art stems from art. There is no great artist in the whole damn world who didn't take the inspiration from master. >>4472776Kek, I wish I was this retarded.
>>4472774>>4472776You people remind of these "anticolonialist" retards in my university who use to reject books written by "white man" and instead advocated for rubbing shit on their faces in the name of "native" way of life. Anti-intellectualism makes me sick.
>>4472792I reject books written by jews.
>>4472792You remind me of a schizophrenic who puts words into other people's mouths and makes up shit
>>4472836You are too stupid to see your own anti-intellectualism in the realm of photography.
>>4472837you cannot muster up any argument as to why it constitutes anti intellectualism so you just make up shit
>>4472841You are stupid for not getting the connection.
>>4472843There is no connection, if there was you'd point it out
>>4472845I don't care. Go become the next hot shot with with your "originality".
>>4472849why would I want to become a "hot shot"? sounds lile a very superficial and anti intellectual goal
>>4472851All sho(r)ts are hot in summer therefor you wear cotton. robes.
>>4472698Thanks, anon. Appreciate it.
Vitamin Ph was a good book.The Polaroid book by Taschen. Civilization: The Way We Live Now.The Dusseldorf School of Photography by Gronert.Photography: The Whole Story.Bill Brandt by Thames and Hudson if you want to shoot Black and White.
>>4473494>Photography: The Whole Story.What are your thoughts on it?
>>4473495Its fine. It has a lot to cover, so it cant go into too much depth, but the information is there. It contains a huge number of inspiring shots - which I think is the most important thing with these books. Its nice to get into the technique and history and character of the photographer; but if you want to emulate that, you can find it out later. What you're really looking for here is inspiration. You're learning how to frame. How to light. I dip into it occasionally to get ideas.Even though it has basically no data about the photographers, I actually prefer the Polaroid Book - because I love how much experimentation was achieved with such a restricted setup. People squeeze some beautiful, colourful, ethereal shots out of Polaroid in a square image.
>>4465912If you're going towards the mirrorless world, almost all books are useless, unless it's about comprehending light and composition imo...
>>4473506>>If you're going towards the mirrorless world, almost all books are useless, unless it's about comprehending light and composition imo...Photography is overflowing with retards who are technical masters but they don't have a unique style or a grand worldview which they present through photographs. I don't know how improvement is possible without education in art.
>>4473513We have gotten to a point in time where the technical know how is out the window, the mirrorless ecosystem has defeated all our "issues" pretty much when it comes to gear or knowing shutter speed, apature, and iso. Anything beyond say a z9 is maximum "technical", and niche, and for professionals, which I cannot argue against. But overall, the average mirrorless camera does all the work for you, so it's purely up to the user and their vision or eye to make or break a photo.
