Required Reading
In another new, hope to be moderately consistent, series of posts I will suggest photography centric books/zines or articles online to read or experience. Sometimes I will do the pull quote thing and use them as a base of discussion, other times I will simply post as a recommended read. This will be as often as I have time to dig and look for things that catch my eye.
I remember first discovering photographer Zack Arias through his OneLight video on using simple flash lighting. While I never kept very close tabs on his other work online, I recently realized I had seen him referenced a number of times recently by other photographers, mainly while researching FujiFilms recent digital camera offerings. I discovered he had been running a pretty fantastic and candid Q&A tumblr and released a curated book of entries within that blog.
The book, Photography Q&A: Real Questions, Real Answers, is what I am recommending today, it’s a surprisingly well rounded book about many of the little, more specific details of working as a photographer. In it he discusses things often overlooked by many classes, books, and workshops. In many of the questions he used the book as an excuse to expand on his original answers to give even more insight based on years of experience and trial and error. There is also quite a bit of additional content added in between sections. He discusses everything from advice for specific shooting scenarios to help with handling different kinds of clients.
His approach to answering questions are often quite blunt and straightforward which I admire. He speaks from his honest opinion unlike many photo books most of which read like a camera manual. Not that either approach is more or less valid for different needs but I do appreciate the level of honesty and humility he offers in his writing. The writing style is akin to sitting down across from him with a drink and having a conversation about photography where there is no need to be polite or hold back.
Here is an excerpt I am in total agreement with from a question about recourses for models to learn how to model, originally posted here and expanded up on in the book. He is speaking here about a camera as a lifeless object, a mere tool of which we forge and capture pieces of time and of the irrelevance of how easy modern cameras make it to take nice looking photos:
“They will never take a picture. Buy all the cameras in the world. They will never see… Nikon doesn’t give you vision. Canon doesn’t give you vision. That new flash you want won’t make you see. It won’t direct your subjects. It won’t do shit for you. You point it where it needs to be pointed. You control what sort of light enters it and how much light enters it. You direct your subject in that light you have decided to work in. You are in charge. You, and you alone. If you think for one second that the camera is doing something for you, then you have your brain turned off and you’re being stupid. Stop it. Take control. Do it all. No matter what crazy-ass thing they make these cameras do next, they will never, ever, ever see the world. That is your job” -Zack Arias
There is a printed version of the book as well as a Kindle version which I read on my iPad to see his example images in color. Of all the photo books I have read through over the years this is easily one of the more refreshing reads I have come across within the genera and I can easily recommend any photographer who feels they still have something to learn within this industry pick this up and digest a question and answer or two each day. You can read more about it and order it over on Zack’s site here.
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