In Focus : National Geographic Greastest Portraits

Rating:
Summary: Be inspired by the best of the pros
Review: This is truly one of the great books of people pictures, a treasure chest of images truly deserving the self-imposed subtitle of "greatest portraits".

Trust me on this. Having spent almost 40 years in the news business as a reporter, photographer and editor, I have some experience in recognizing good pictures and hiring people who can produce good pictures. By any standard, these are great pictures.

A "great picture" hinges on an intangible called the moment of peak action. Let me explain that by referring to a photo not in this book; the angry defiant look of Sir Winston Churchill in the portrait by Yousouf Karsh of Ottawa, Canada. Churchill was angry because Karsh had just taken away his cigar, which Churchill had just lit of relax after a speech to the Canadian parliament. It's probably the most famous portrait ever of Churchill.

Had I taken that picture, instead of the angry portrait I'd have waited and asked Churchill to "smile". As everyone knows, it would have been a lousy picture of a great man. Karsh had the genius to recognize the precise moment of peak action; likewise, in picture after picture in this book, I saw the same superb talent in capturing the most evocative expression of the subjects. This is the heart of great photography; I think I can recognize it, just as an art critic can recognize a great painting without being able to do it.

Photography is the most accessible of the arts; every parent wants "great" pictures of their children, every lover wants "great" pictures of their beloved, every tourist wants that memorable vacation memory. This book is a superb course in what great pictures look like; it's not just a museum of the finest, it's also a teaching example of "here's what a good picture is like" for anyone who takes pictures. This quality can inspire your quality.

If we are to learn, we might as well learn from the best whenever possible; if we are to enjoy great art, we might as well have the best. This book is an example of both; the price is incredible for such a treasure trove. It's awesome.

Buy it; it'll improve your pictures, and your life.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointingly average and too politically correct
Review: Considering the millions of images created by National Geographic over the decades, this collection of portraits of "ordinary people" is disappointing. The images are defintiely not the most striking. The commentaries by photographers and editorial comments do no justice to the collection. The political correctness is overwhelming and entirely unnecessary. For example, the admission "[e]ntire tableaux were arranged to illustrate imagined lives in popular Geographic stories about American cities and states and exotic foreign metropolises and villages." No kidding? That's real news - especially when followed by "[i]ronically, the arrange of elaborate scenes for the sake of photography has become very fashionable these days."

Huh? What's the point?

Many of the photos are indeed transcendant, but the majority are mundane. Overall, a disappointing collection.

Jerry