Photographers on photography: How the masters see, think & shoot by Henry Carroll

Book Review

As a photographer, sometimes you get into creative ruts and lack motivation, it's part of being in the creative realm, the juices won't always be flowing. This book is definitely one to pick up when you're in a slump. Inspirational words, eye-opening quotes and plenty of interesting insights given by numerous different photographers.

This book written by Henry Carroll was published in 2018, 4 years after his other successful book "Read This If You Want to Take Great Photographs". Of course books like that one do very well in the photography spectrum, as it is a great selling point to new photographers that want to be better. The book "Photographers on Photography: How the masters see, think & shoot" however, takes a different turn from the method driven book, and goes down a slightly more profound path, with a touch of theory and philosophy, but not in a boring way. It includes a series of short essays by Henry Carroll along with selected interviews of a handful of the masters. The intent is to make one think, at which it does quite sufficiently.

When it comes to books and their content, they can be organised in various different ways, some are stories so they need a plot and theme, some are bibliographies so they tend to be set out chronologically. This book claims to be set out by "feeling". Which when reading it, I tend to agree. There is no order or specific rule to this book, it is simply displaying different perspectives and emotions that experienced photographers hold when it comes to this medium. You could be reading one specific perspective and then the next page another photographer completely contradicts that idea and thinks oppositely. It is interesting, as you're met with the reality that photography is personal to everyone, there is no right way of thinking about it, it is simply subjective, and what's compelling is that this plain sentence can also be debated by another photographer that thinks otherwise. When it comes to this book, although it's content is anything but simple, the concept of it is pretty straightforward and that's what I like about it. If someone asked me what the book is about I can tell them pretty quickly and without spoiling it.

"Reality is to photography what melody is to music"

Ralph Gibson

Every page assaulted me with new ideas, from the photos themselves, the thoughts of the photographer and the contextualization of Henry Carroll. I was constantly introduced to new concepts and ways of thinking. Overall, I would recommend this book to any photographer, beginner or not. You come away from it with great quotes that will stay with you, and that you can learn from. One I liked was Man ray who simply said 'People ask, "what camera do you use?" I say, "you don't ask a writer what typewriter he uses" '. What's further appealing about this book is its convenience for discovering new photographers and learning about them and their outlook on the topic, which is valuable when you are looking for inspiration. I also found that it contains a few long form interviews with select photographers that share their shooting methods and mindset in the process, which undoubtedly can be some great useful insight for any photographer. There are a few parts where a photographer is vaguely introduced in a one page limit and is paired with slightly lofty quotes that could come across as pretentious at times, but may be comforting and relational to others. Generally, this book may well be a staple and a classic in every photographers bookshelf, it's s always relevant and can be read over and over throughout time.