The Essence of Photography, 2nd Edition: Seeing and Creativity

Book Description

In this fully revised and greatly expanded second edition of The Essence of Photography, world-renowned photographer and teacher Bruce Barnbaum draws upon 50 years of experience and observation to teach the art of photographic seeing and creativity.

There is a lot more to photography than simply picking up a camera, pointing it toward something, and tripping the shutter. Achieving a great photograph requires thought and preparation, an understanding of the photographic process, and a firm grasp of how light and composition affect a photo. There must be personal involvement and personal expression. There must be experimentation, with the recognition that only a small percentage of experiments end successfully.

In this revised and expanded second edition of The Essence of Photography, best-selling author and world-renowned photographer and teacher Bruce Barnbaum explores these seldom-discussed issues by drawing upon his personal experiences and observations from 50 years of photographing and teaching. In addition to photographs, Bruce also uses painting, music, and writing, as well as the sciences and even business, to provide pertinent examples of creative thinking. These examples serve as stepping stones that will lead you to your own heightened ability to see and be creative.

Creativity is a topic that is almost wholly ignored in formal education because most instructors think that it cannot be taught or learned. To the contrary, Bruce has proven that photographic seeing and creativity can be taught, learned, and improved. This book expands on the ideas that are central to Bruce’s method of teaching photography, which he has used in workshops for the past 50 years.

Included in the book are in-depth discussions on the following topics:

• Defining your own unique rhythm and approach as a photographer
• How to translate the scene in front of you to the final photograph
• The differences and similarities between how an amateur and a professional approach photography
• The differences between realism and abstraction, and the possibilities and limitations of each
• Learning to expand your own seeing and creativity through classes, workshops, and associating with other photographers
• Why the rules of composition should be ignored
• How to follow your passion
• When to listen to the critics and when to ignore them

The book is richly illustrated with well over 100 photographs taken by Bruce as well as other photographers.

Seeing and creativity are difficult to teach, but not impossible. This very different, perhaps groundbreaking book is sure to inspire photographers of all skill levels―from beginners to seasoned professionals―to think deeply about the issues involved in creating successful photographs.

中文：

书名：The Essence of Photography, 2nd Edition: Seeing and Creativity

在这本全面修订和大大扩展的第二版中摄影的本质，世界著名的摄影师和老师Bruce Barnbaum利用50年的经验和观察来教授摄影的视觉和创造力的艺术。

摄影不仅仅是拿起相机，对准什么东西，然后按下快门，还有更多的东西。获得一张好照片需要思考和准备，了解摄影过程，并牢牢把握光线和构图对照片的影响。必须有个人的参与和个人的表达。必须进行实验，认识到只有一小部分实验成功结束。

在这本修订和扩充的第二版中摄影的本质畅销书作家、世界知名摄影师兼教师布鲁斯·巴恩鲍姆通过借鉴他50年来摄影和教学的个人经历和观察，探索了这些很少被讨论的问题。除了照片，布鲁斯还利用绘画、音乐和写作，以及科学甚至商业，提供了相关的创造性思维的例子。这些例子作为垫脚石，将引导你提升自己的视觉能力和创造力。

在正规教育中，创造力是一个几乎完全被忽视的话题，因为大多数教师认为创造力是不能教或学的。相反，布鲁斯已经证明，摄影的视觉和创造力是可以教、学和提高的。这本书扩展了布鲁斯摄影教学方法的核心思想，他在过去的50年里一直在研讨会上使用这种方法。

该书包括对以下主题的深入讨论：

• 定义自己作为摄影师的独特节奏和方法
• 如何将你面前的场景翻译成最终的照片
• 业余摄影与专业摄影的异同
• 现实主义和抽象之间的区别，以及各自的可能性和局限性
• 通过课程、工作坊和与其他摄影师的交往，学会扩大自己的视野和创造力
• 为什么要忽略作文规则
• 如何追随你的激情
• 什么时候应该听取批评者的意见，什么时候应该忽视他们

这本书用布鲁斯和其他摄影师拍摄的100多张照片进行了丰富的插图。

视觉和创造力很难教授，但也不是不可能。这本非常不同的，也许是开创性的书肯定会激励所有技能水平的摄影师–从初学者到经验丰富的专业人士–深入思考创造成功照片所涉及的问题。