Landscape: The World's Top Photographers and the Stories Behind Their Greatest Images (Worlds Top Photographers)

Rating:
Summary: I Like This Book
Review: I like this book. I picked up a copy from the library, and will likely buy a copy to re-read for inspiration and insight. The book presents photos from 38 of the world's top landscape photographers -- big names like Joe Cornish, Galen Rowell, Art Wolfe, Charlie Waite. For each photographer there is a brief bio, followed by several photos (typically some of their best). Each photo is accompanied by a discussion of how the photo came to be made, including thoughts on the creative process and technique. Technical info (camera, film, exposure) is provided for those who like to know that stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Most interesting
Review: No, not just another book with nice landscape shots. This book features the photography of many experts within this wide-ranging field. Most interesting is the technical information concerning camera, lens and film. Printing quality is superb. For the price, this is by far the best buy for any student of photography. An inspiring book!

Rating:
Summary: The Top 38
Review: The World?s Top Photographers

This another volume from the publisher, Rotovision, aimed at presenting readers with pictures of a single genre from the world?s top photographers. The author of the volume, Terry Hope writes regularly about photography.

The book devotes between two and six pages to the photographs of each of the 38 photographers selected. Besides the photographs, there is a statement of several paragraphs from each artist that may explain how he or she came to landscape photography or what techniques are used. Then, each picture is also supported by a few sentences that explain how the photographer came to take the particular picture or select his or her technique.

The quality of the printing is good, although interestingly, when I compared pictures in this book with the same photos in books presented under the aegis of the individual photographers, there were sometimes significant differences in hue.

There is no doubt that each of the pictures is world class. One could quibble with the selection of photographers but the pictures themselves are great landscapes that will appeal to those who love this genre. The problem with the collection is that there are not enough pictures by any individual photographer to really develop an appreciation of his or her art. Moreover, because the pictures are organized by artist, it's difficult to develop a sense of the different approaches that photographers take to subject matter or technique. That doesn't mean it is impossible, but it will take a lot of work on the part of the reader without any help from the author.

For example one could compare the picture taken by Jack Dykinga of a boulder in Joshua Tree National Park with one taken of the very same stone by Michael Fatali. The slight variations in angle and light in the sky present different pictures that can tell you something about the individual photographer and his approach to landscape. In fact, close reading of all the work can help the reader to understand that these pictures are not merely recording physical phenomena. Instead they are showing how the great photographers bring their own vision of the world to the subject matter and, indeed, impress that vision upon the subject matter. The close reading may actually lead one to ask, what is the truth of a photograph if the photographer can so alter what he sees without changing the form of the subject?

The book is most useful as a tool to introduce the reader to photographers of whom he may never have heard and then lead the reader to further acquaint himself with those he likes. For someone interested in photography that's not a mean accomplishment.