On the bookshelf: A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel: My Journey in Photographs

I was given one more photography book for my birthday. I hadn’t mentioned it already as A) it came by sea so only arrived recently, and B) it has a few more words than most photography books so I had to sit down and read it.

The book is  A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel: My Journey in Photographs by Annie Griffiths Belt, a National Geographic photographer who has managed to juggle her career with two kids and a camel. (Something you don’t even see at Cirque Du Soleil.)

A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel by Annie Griffiths Belt

It would perhaps be best described as an illustrated autobiography. The author talks about her life as a National Geographic photographer and there were several interesting facts or pearls of wisdom along the way. These included:

“Assignments in those days (early in her career) averaged three to six months. No assistants. No shot lists. No excuses.”  Photographers were sent to a place after a five minute phone call and then it was their job to find the story behind that city or region and to photograph it.

Interpersonal skills are one of the keys to being a travel photographer. Being able to change a NO to a yes. Convincing strangers to not only let you photograph them, but to let you into their home.

Access. Go where other can’t, won’t or fear to tread.

Enjoy it. You are probably doing one of the best jobs in the world.

On the Bookshelf: South Southeast & In the Shadow of Mountains by Steve McCurry

Along with the Annie Leibovitz retrospective from my parents, I got two other photography books for my birthday from Seiko, South Southeast and In the Shadow of Mountains both by Steve McCurry.

South Southeast is a big book in both physical size (39cm by 29cm) and scope (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Thailand, Cambodia and Burma). It is “a portfolio of the best of Steve McCurry’s photography” and it is simply fantastic. As a coffee table book it will draw oohs and aahs from visitors to you home. For photographers, however,  it is a master class in travel imagery that will make you think more about the shots you take and the places you want to explore.

In the Shadow of Mountains is a collection of images taken by Steve over the last three decades in Afghanistan. (Yes it does contain the image of the Afghan girl that appeared on the cover of National Geographic.) I actually prefer that this book focuses on just one country giving me a better feel for the place.

Wonderful images, inspiring stuff.

On the bookshelf: Celebrity & Performance

I ordered the book Celebrity and Performance from Amazon months ago but due to delays (or the popularity of Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller) the book only just arrived.

It is another interesting tome in “The World’s Top Photographer’s Workshops” series by RotoVision. The ten photographers chosen each capture celebrities in a different way, from the “airport paparazzo” to the “Hollywood A-lister”. Many of my favorite images were black and whites shot by Andy Gotts using a Mamiya RB67 and Kodak Tri-X 400. Amazing.

Celebrity & Performance by Andy Steel / RotoVision

On the bookshelf – Annie Leibovitz Photographs 1970-1990

In an earlier blog I talked about buying a compendium of Annie Leibovitz photographs only to realize that many of the iconic images I was expecting were in the earlier collection of her work. Last month, for my birthday, I got just what I wanted when I was given the book Annie Leibovitz Photographs 1970-1990. The book is out of print but there are plenty of used copies available on Amazon.
There are the famous images of John and Yoko, fantastic shots of the Rolling Stones (they seemed to spend quite a lot of time unconscious) along with images of a young Schwarzenegger, Christopher Walken and self portraits.

What is really fascinating is that the books together become greater than the sum of their parts. As images of Jagger, Richards, Schwarzenegger, Walken and Leibovitz appear in both books, you also have a study of aging.  Some have managed to hide the years, while the weathered faces of others reveal a lifetime of hard living that took place between one photograph and the next.

Annie Leibovitz Photographs 1970 to 1990

On the bookshelf – A Photographer’s Life 1990-2005 by Annie Leibovitz

I didn’t study photography at school or university. To be honest, if you showed me a selection of famous photographs and told me to name the photographer I would probably only get a couple right. ( an Ansel Adams shot of Yosemite and the Afghan girl by Steve McCurry)

I am however trying to broaden my knowledge of great photographers. Not knowing where else to begin I thought I’d start reading about one of the most famous – Annie Leibovitz.

I surfed over to Amazon.com and ordered a big compendium of her work: A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005 by Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz A Photographer's Life 1990-2005 by Annie Leibovitz

The book is a mix of commercial portraits, and far more personal  images from her own life. Shots of her family, and pictures from her various travels around the world are woven between photographs of  Nelson Mandela, Carl Lewis, Bill Clinton, Michael Jordan, Brad Pitt. and R2-D2.

There is a brief introduction and simple captions. I would have liked to have read the story behind each image, but the focus is kept (and perhaps rightly so) on the images.

It’s a great book, but I did get a feeling similar to when I bought Aretha Franklin - Greatest Hits (1980-1994) and discovered that Respect, Chain of Fools, and Think were on the earlier CD I should have bought instead.

It’s my birthday next month, and my parents asked if there was anything I wanted. I said I wasn’t sure, but next time we chat I’lI know exactly what to say: a copy of  Annie Leibovitz Photographs 1970-1990 and  some 60’s Aretha.

Turin Shroud – An early photograph?

The Turin Shroud: How da Vinci Fooled History

The Turin Shroud: How da Vinci Fooled History was lent to me on my last photo trip so I had something to read on the train. The book is the research about how Picknett and Prince came to the conclusion that the Turin Shroud was not just a forgery ( as previously shown by carbon dating ) but that it was a primitive photograph created by Leonardo da Vinci.  Most of the book is not particularly well written and was a bit of a struggle to get through. They go into detail about the history of the shroud, and the various different theories regarding its creation. The book did become interesting in the penultimate chapter when they describe how they tried to create a similar shroud image using techniques da Vinci (in their opinion a skilled chemist, artist, physician, physicist, and heretic) may have used.

Their process involved producing a simple camera obscura with a primitive lens to project an image onto a piece of white linen. The authors thought da Vinci even used a model of his own face as that of Jesus. The image was fixed to the linen by coating it with a mixture of  chromium salts and an organic component such as gelatin, gum arabic or egg white. The mixture in areas hit by light became insoluble. Once the image had been projected onto the linen for many hours, the cloth was then heated. The fabric was scorched in the areas where the mixture had hardened. Areas of brightness in the original image now became dark producing the negative image you see on the shroud.

Another process done by Nicholas Allen was to coat the linen in silver nitrate or sulphate , project the image onto the linen then fix the image using ammonia.

The final chapter goes back to the rather less interesting debate over authenticity between the Shroudies and non-Shroudies.

If you found the Da Vinci Code or Angels & Demons fascinating then this book is well worth checking out. If you are interested in photography then chapter 8 is perhaps all you want to read.

Veggie Japan

Living in Japan can be a little tricky if you are vegetarian or vegan, but it is far from impossible.

In general you don’t get products that are specifically targeted at vegetarians. So no veggie burgers at fast food chains, no veggie symbols on packages of food, no spicy bean burgers or anything by Linda McCartney.

There are  veggie / vegan restaurants but they tend to be quite rare and, until recently, it was difficult to find out where they were.  For the opening evening at Cotonoha I asked a local vegan restaurant, Salon Cuttho, to provide half the food. They made samosas, spring rolls, bruschetta,  croquettes and ratatouille. The guests thought the  food was delicious, and it disappeared fast (too fast in fact – didn’t realize that an international crowd require far more food than an all Japanese crowd of the same number).

The next day, while settling the bill at Salon Cuttho,  I saw they were selling a Japan Vegan Restaurant Pocket Guide. Written by Herwin Walravens it gives information on over 100 vegan/veggie restaurants in Japan.

Japan Vegan Restaurant Pocketguide

You can find out more about the book at Herwin’s homepage www.veganjapan.net He lists 8 vegetarian cafe/restaurants in  Okinawa including Salon Cuttho so I have lots of places to check out. Also when I go traveling around Japan I’ll know exactly where I can find veggie food rather than relying on inarizushi and shiso onigiri from convenience stores.

Birds of Japan

Box just arrived from Amazon.com with a couple of books, a couple of cd’s and a movie I’d ordered.

One of the books was A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Japan and North-East Asia by Tadao Shimba.

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Japan and North-East Asia

I’m most impressed by the book. Colour photography throughout , over 600 species, a little bit of a description on each bird, and its geographic range. The photographs range in quality but still give you a good idea of what the birds look like.

One problem I have already noticed is that the book has the English name and the scientific name of the bird but not the common Japanese name. If you  buy this book and plan to use it while in Japan (which would be most people I imagine)  having the Japanese name would allow you to ask locals what a bird was or confirm your guess.

Until the photographic guide came out the standard book (in English) of Japanese birds was A Field Guide to the Birds of Japan by the Wild Bird Society of Japan. I managed to find a copy in a box of junk, which was fantastic as they were last printed in 1985 and they usually sell for upwards of 100 dollars.

A Field Guide to the Birds of Japan

The field guide is excellent with great drawings of adults and immature birds along with summer and winter plumage. There are the English, scientific and Japanese names for each species also. (Impress you Japanese friends with your knowledge of obscure Japanese bird names.)

In summary, I would recommend either book. If you can find a copy of the field guide at a reasonable price, having both books will provide you with a great resource.

As I mentioned learning the Japanese names of birds before…

Suzuki Hayabusa

This is the Suzuki Hayabusa, one of the fastest production bikes in the world.  The name makes a lot more sense when translated from Japanese to English – Suzuki Peregrine Falcon.

If you are wondering how fast that is….

On the bookshelf – Sport & Action

Another title in Rotovision’s The World’s Top Photographers’ Workshops series is Sport & Action. For me this is perhaps the weakest in the series. My main niggle is that there are nine sports photographers and one wildlife photographer. Andy Rouse’s photographs are excellent, but they are completely out of place, especially when there is a separate and far superior book in the series called Wildlife. 

The other reason for not enjoying this one so much is perhaps more contentious. It seems to me that for  sports perhaps the still camera is not the best medium for recording events.

The opposite seems to be true in the world of Fashion & Advertising where a well crafted image has far more impact than catwalks or television commercials.

On the bookshelf – Travel & Nature

        

 

 

Travel & Nature by Andy Steel ( Rotovision )

 

Rotovision is a British publisher that produces several really good books on photography. 

 

I just got one of the latest releases in their “The World’s Top Photographers’ Workshops” series titled Travel & Nature. The book is divided into ten sections each based around a particular photographer. Each section has an interview with the photographer, several pages of their best photographs and then a Tips for Success page where the photographer gives 10 nuggets of wisdom (or common sense). 

Travel photography is a bit like ecology  in that it is a blend of several different disciplines. This book therefore has interviews with a wide range of photographers including Steve Bloom (nature), David Doubliet (underwater) and Lee Frost (landscape). 

I have most of the titles in the series, some of which are better than others. Travel & Nature due to its diversity is a great book by itself, and if you like the informative style that delves more into the mindset of the photographer rather than the equipment he or she is using it deserves its space on the bookshelf.