Old Books

I love old photography books. I have a few on my bookshelf and I enjoy pulling them out now and then and flipping through them. You get an interesting perspective when you compare the techniques of the past with the way photography is often done in our modern, digital age.

An example is a chapter I just read in “How To Take Pictures Like A Pro” published in 1982. The chapter in question was a lengthy discussion on techniques for panoramic photos, which are popular even today. Of course the difference is, instead of a piece of software that does automated stitching we’re talking photo prints, an Exacto knife and tape! Things have come a long way here!

Of course, many techniques never go out of style and the explanations and illustrations on effective lighting techniques are just as relevant today as they have ever been. Well worth the .99 cents I paid in a Goodwill store some years ago.

Probably the most interesting perspective is comparing photos that were considered stellar examples when some of these books were published. They’re often grainy, blurred at times and not at all perfect. I think one trap that shooting digital can lead us into is focusing on the “perfect” photo to the exclusion of the art of photography. There’s more to a great photo than sharpness and absence of digital noise.

There’s still a place for photos that simply move us, no matter how technically flawed they may appear… I think photographers that grew up shooting film, in a time when we couldn’t easily shoot hundreds of photos in a single shoot and throw away the 199 that didn’t make the cut probably understood that a little better.