The Soul of the Camera by David duChemin

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The cover of The Soul of the Camera

The Soul of the Camera: The Photographer's Place in Picture-Making feels like a different style of book from some of David duChemin’s previous works, such as Within the Frame (one of my favorites), and Photographically Speaking. And yet I suppose it really is not so different. Each of these books takes a core theme and explores it, trying to convey to the reader its importance and how it might be used to better our photography, and even to learn what better photography means.

In Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision, the main theme is that of vision. He talks about how creating an emotionally impactful image is greatly enhanced by vision, and he then spends the book going into all the details of what vision entails and how important it is to our development as photographers.

In Photographically Speaking: A Deeper Look at Creating Stronger Images, duChemin continues the discussions from Within the Frame, but with a theme of visual language. What is it? How can we use it to better understand what makes an impactful image, and hopefully as part of this learn to create more impactful images? The book attempts to answer these questions.

The Soul of the Camera is similar to the other two in that it focuses on a theme, that of “the Photographers Place in Picture-Making.” None of these books were very focused on gear or technique and this book is even less so than the others. It centers on topics related to the photographer, such as the need to be open to the world and to creativity, the need of patience both with your craft and with yourself, and the importance of curiosity in developing your creativity.

Pages 106 - 107 of The Soul of the Camera. The chapter on Obedience to Curiosity.

Where I suppose this book feels different than the other two is in how the topics are presented. It feels like a book of short essays, each able to stand on its own (perhaps as blog posts), but taken together also able to convey a larger whole. And interspersed between each essay is a collection of duChemin’s photography, all in black and white. So it ends up feeling to me like two books in one: a collection of essays and a portfolio of duChemin’s work.

Pages 54 - 55 of The Soul of the Camera. Photograph from Jodhpur, India, 2016.

I really enjoyed the photography in The Soul of the Camera. I think I would have been happy with the purchase even if it only contained his photographs. The choice of using only black and white photographs was a good one. There are some very beautiful and impactful images in these pages. You may have seen some of these photographs before in his previous books or on his website, some in color. But he says some of the photographs are new to this book.

Physically, this edition of the book measures about 7 1/4 by 9 1/4 inches. It is a hard bound book, which is actually rather nice. There are a total of 274 pages. If I counted correctly, there are 86 black and white photographs placed between the 26 chapters (or essays), which include an introduction and conclusion.

Pages 64 - 65 of The Soul of the Camera. Photographs from Kenya, 2015.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely, but not necessarily to everyone. I don’t know if this would be a good first book on photography. Some photography newbies might get something out of it, but I don’t know that I would have. I think I first needed to focus on the more common technical aspects of photography. Once I started feeling more secure in my technical ability then I think I became open enough to learn some of the softer topics that have far more impact on the creation of beautiful and meaningful photographs.

If you are new to David duChemin and his writing then I would start with his first book, Within the Frame. That remains one of my favorite photography books, being about more than the typical technical aspects of the craft. Then I might recommend Photographically Speaking, which continues the discussions of the first. If you are still drawn to his work and inspired by his writing then I would recommend giving The Soul of the Camera a try.

“It is time now to turn our attention to what is ultimately responsible for the making of photographs — the photographers themselves.”

— David duChemin

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Touching the Mekong by Andrea Baldeck

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Cover of Andrea Baldeck's Touching the Mekong

Andrea Baldeck travels the world learning about and photographing other cultures. For Touching the Mekong she “spent two long sojourns in lands touched by the Mekong,” a river formed by snowmelt in Tibet, flowing through Southeast Asia touching countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Pages 14 - 15 of Touching the Mekong

“Terrains of seductive beauty and variety provoked awe and delight: the jungled mountains of the upper Mekong, the meanders of the Irrawaddy, the placid expanse of the Tonle Sap, the shoreline of the Bay of Bengal.”

— Andrea Baldeck

Pages 32 - 33 of Touching the Mekong

Pages 52 - 53 of Touching the Mekong

The book opens with a short two-page introduction where Baldeck provides context and texture to the photographs that occupy the rest of its 156 pages. You can feel her passion for the region and its people and you can see in the photographs her early inspiration from publications such as Life and National Geographic.

Pages 74 - 75 of Touching the Mekong

“In this highly varied landscape live equally diverse peoples, a cultural patchwork vividly evident at open-air markets and religious festivals, yet also subject to shifting political and economic pressures in a region changing more quickly than can be captured by the camera.”

— Andrea Baldeck

Pages 82 - 83 of Touching the Mekong

Pages 150 - 151 of Touching the Mekong

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Baldeck says her photographs in Touching the Mekong are not a compendium or travelogue, but instead “are vey much a personal account of textured, nuanced, enigmatic moments in a fascinating world.” She has created images that show aspects of the landscape throughout the region and that capture the people in their homes, where they work, and in their places of worship. She has created posed portraits and also candid shots of people going about their life. We see bits and pieces from their lives including details in architecture and in the crafts and products they create.

Touching the Mekong is a book for people interested in other cultures. It provides a way for those of us who may never visit these regions to appreciate, at least in some small way, the people and culture of these locales.

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Irving Penn: Platinum Prints

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Cover of Irving Penn: Platinum Prints

Irving Penn: Platinum Prints collects together in book form the material he donated to the National Gallery of Art in 2002 and 2003. The material included 85 platinum / palladium prints and 17 collages of test prints, all beautifully reproduced in this book.

I purchased this book because I knew the name Irving Penn. But I wasn’t very familiar with his actual work, just that he was a well known American photographer who had worked in the fashion industry. I’m very much a believer in improving ones own work by studying the work of others regardless of how much their subject matter differs from your own. So when I found a copy of the book at a local used book store I grabbed it.

I have always loved the look of platinum and palladium prints, with their fantastic tonal variations, though I haven’t been fortunate enough to view very many in person. As beautiful as the prints look in the book I can only imagine how much more impactful they might be in person.

Irvin Penn: Platinum Prints. Plate 6: New York Still Life, 1947

Irvin Penn: Platinum Prints. Plate 7: Ballet Theatre Group, New York, 1947. Plate 8: Ballet Society, New York, 1948

Irving Penn may be best know for his fashion work, having created many photographs for Vogue magazine. But the prints in this book show his interests went much further than fashion. He created still life images, portraits of well-known and influential people, and of common folk from various cultures around the world. And of course, he also produced photographs related to fashion.

Irvin Penn: Platinum Prints. Plate 12: Mother and Sleeping Child, Cuzco, 1948. Plate 13: Family with Mother Nursing Child, Cuzco, 1948

Irvin Penn: Platinum Prints. Plate 37: Picasso at La Californie, Cannes, France, 1957

I really like this book. The prints are beautiful with such rich tones. The lighting is gorgeous. The book is printed on a thick stock matte paper. Sarah Greenough provided an essay that describes Penn’s life and how he got into platinum / palladium printing. The book also includes a chronology of Penn’s life, a checklist from the exhibition with details about each print, and a lengthy bibliography of works by and about Irving Penn.

Irvin Penn: Platinum Prints. Plate 53: Four Unggai, New Guinea, 1970. Plate 54: Five Okapa Warriors, New Guinea, 1970

Irvin Penn: Platinum Prints. Plate 80: Composition with Skull and Pear, New York, 1979. Plate 81: The Poor Lovers, New York, 1979

This book can be hard to find but if you manage to find a copy I would grab it, or at least take the time to look through it. I would very much enjoy one day seeing some of these prints in person.

Irvin Penn: Platinum Prints. Plate 98: Platinum Test Materials 10/17, 1989. Plate 99: Platinum Test Materials 15/17, 1989

Creating a platinum print is a very hands on process. The Met posted a short video on YouTube where Vasilios Zatse, an assistant of Irving Penn, describes how Penn created his platinum and palladium prints. Check it out if you're curious about the process.

In this animated video of Irving Penn's darkroom, Vasilios Zatse, who was an assistant to Penn from 1996 to 2009, explains the artist's innovative process for making platinum-palladium prints. Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Irving Penn: Centennial, on view at The Met Fifth Avenue from April 24 through July 30, 2017.

Have you ever seen any of Irving Penn’s prints in person? Are you familiar with his work? Let me know in the comments below.

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