The Art of Black and White Photography: Techniques for Creating Superb Images in a Digital Workflow [Amazon] by Torsten Andreas Hoffman

Over the last few years, most books on photography emphasized explaining the new breed of cameras and how to master the digital imaging workflow. In the Art of Black and White Photography, Torsten Andreas Hoffman takes a different approach as he focuses on image compositon and image capture, with an emphysis on the creative aspects of black and white photography, as well as on the digital workflow.

About the Author

Born in Duesseldorf, Germany in 1956, Torsten Andreas Hoffmann is the internationally renowned photographer and author of illustrated books on New York, Paris, Rome, and the Himalayas.

Having spent his educational years studying art and majoring in photography, Hoffmann has dedicated most of his life to this craft. He is a teacher of workshops on composition and black and white photography, and shows his students how to find their own individual style.

Hoffmann specializes in the medium of black and white photography, as well as in the field of conceptual photography. His stunning photographs have been shown in numerous exhibitions in Germany and abroad, and have been published in many well-known magazines.

In addition to his many books, he regularly writes articles on picture design for the popular Greman magazine “Photographie”, and he is a regular contributor to LFI, the highly acclaimed international journal published by Leica.

Concept

The introduction of the “ground rules of composition” and the illustration of their applications within various photographic genres is incorporated in this book on black and white photography. Hoffmann also illustrates the elements of “photographic language” in an effort to help distinguish creative photography from random shooting. Finally, our author dedicates the final section of the book to the “digital darkroom” with the use of Adobe Photoshop (CS2 and CS3).

Illustrations

Hoffmann is a very talented and accomplished photographer and his work is used throughout the book to illustrate concepts, ideas, and graphic design. The quality of the book is very good and that’s important as this book is focused on the final print and it’s presentation lends to better looking images throughout.

Our author makes great use of multiple figures to help illustrate modifications or changes made either at capture or during post production. You can see the difference made when using different color filters or different techniques in Photoshop.

Lastly, Hoffmann’s photographs are superb. The strong use of composition, mood, and contrast throughout his work really show off his capabilities as an internationally renowned photographer.

The Best

Section 3 “Rules of Composition” really stood out to me as the best section of the book. It really helps put the “Art” in the title The Art of Black and White Photography. While most of the information in this section isn’t new to me, I’m willing to bet that most people didn’t major in Fine Art. Finding out what key elements draw you to imagery and how to look for those elements while your out with your camera is a key ingredient to becoming a fine art photographer. This knowledge, whether it’s natural or learned, is what can separate good photography from great photography.

Conclusion

There are tons of books on photography that attempt to teach better photography through over simplified techniques. This is not one of those books. Hoffmann gets in depth with the reader and does a great job of illustrating his concepts with great wording and outstanding photography.

It’s one of those books that deserves revisiting from time to time. The concepts through most of the book are timeless and can help photographers hone in on their own style by carefully breaking down different elements of photographic design and allowing the reader to inhale what they love about photography.

The book isn’t perfect. The last section will, unfortunately, give this book a dated feel. This is always a problem when writing about technology especially in dealing with software. Already Adobe has released Photoshop CS4 and I expect this book will get an update in the next couple of years. Don’t let this small part take away from the real value of the book. The real value lies in all of the sections before the digital darkroom is discussed besides, most of the techniques using black and white conversion are valid today.

We give this book a 4 out of 5!

You can get your copy of The Art of Black and White Photography: Techniques for Creating Superb Images in a Digital Workflow at Amazon today.

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