A book review (sort of)

Helsinki, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

First, care to guess what car is hidden under the snow in the photograph? (I have no idea.)

As I wrote here earlier, I bought some new photography books, based on recommendations from TOP and Amazon etc. But it has been slow going with them.

In any case, I finally finished reading "Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision" by David duChemin. First of all, I must say it is an interesting book, and probably valuable for many readers. But not for me.

In fact, I grew angry when trying to read book, which is very untypical. I found the writing to be very self-centered, and this wasn't helped by a kind of arrogant, preaching tone. I'm not saying anything about the writer, only about how the text felt to me.

This is just a personal opinion. Please keep this mind when reading further, I can't help being more sharp than usual with this book.

First, what this book is about? Perhaps one of the following:

- camera gear
- photographic vision
- David duChemin's vision

Only one of these is right, can you guess which? Yes, the last one, overwhelmingly so.

The book contains pointers to some technical issues, but uses a condescending tone, for example suggesting that if you don't know how to handle your camera, practise the handling for one week in your room, so that you know the controls even with eyes closed. (I'm paraphrasing a bit here.) Similar kind of "helpful" advice was elsewhere as well, suggesting that if you don't know something, go practise.

The book does contain some occasional gems (but all too few), and you definitely get the impression that the writer is a pro - or should I write "PRO".

The book tells how DdC takes photographs and what is his vision. For example, catch people smiling so it is easy for the viewers to identify with the subject of the photograph. (I'm also paraphrasing here.)

The photographs are mostly good (but not great), and well done in post-processing. I couldn't help comparing them with the work of Andreas Manessinger, who I think makes a better job of it, although he is not a PRO as DdC is. (That was cheap, I guess I'm a bit angry still.)

I think better sources of learning are to be found elsewhere, especially if you are interested in photography and not in how DdC takes photographs.

Although I must admit some parts of describing the working methods were quite interesting, but they were not what I was looking for in the book, and not relevant to my photography. I'm that kind of photographer who is not at all interested in taking photographs of people he or she doesn't know, preferring other subjects. Of course, I'm definitely not a pro, so who I am to critizise the photography?

What matters is that I will not return to DdC's book any day soon. Tom Ang, Freeman Patterson and Michael Freeman (just three examples) provide in their guides - in my opinion - much more useful discussion about vision in photography than this book in which the work "vision" is so repeatedly used.