Why do we study photo books? What can we gain from studying photo books? Let's explore together. 

Photo books are collections of images placed together in book form. They are often a body of work, years of a certain photographer's practice. We should read them more often. 

I love photo books. I find it an advantageous way to understand my craft. One must do street photography; photographers can't learn it through instruction alone. Please understand me; I am not making this post to say that simply reading a photography book will make you the next great photographer. No. I think that each photographer can enhance their skill by using photo books.

As a medical provider (in a previous life), I would still have to do some rigorous medical education even after seeing multiple patients over a year. This medical education helped sharpen my discernment and understanding of patients and increasingly changing medical conditions. I argue that as photographers, we should treat our craft with similar professionalism and urgency. Photo books are a way to continue our education as photographers. What are some ways studying photo books helps? Here are five reasons. 

Understand art history

As with all art, understanding the history behind what you're doing is essential. While some photographers could have extraordinary natural talent and understanding of what came before, you can only shape your craft for the better by further study. I'll think of this as I think of music. Growing up, I loved hip-hop. I know the 80s influenced the hip-hop artists I loved in the 90s.

Similarly, all of the great street photographers I look up to pay homage to older street photographers . We should use our photo books in this vein. It's more than a glimpse into the past. It's a way to understand what hello photographers were doing in the past. It's a way to connect, learn from, and get mentorship from older legends of photography. Ultimately, an understanding of art history helps form and shape the type of photographer you will be. But this only looks at art on the whole; what is your personal history as a photographer?

Know your photographic history 

Is your goal to fundamentally change the art market with your unique vision? I think that is a goal all artists have, but we have to know that history to know what we're fundamentally changing. This is another reason to consider photo books part of your artistic journey. Understanding art, on the whole, can be helpful. However, understanding your photography, in particular, can change your understanding of yourself. Where do you fit in the lineage of photographers before you? Do you stand on the shoulders of giants? If so, then who? We have to evaluate our history as photographers to understand how to move the profession forward. 

Perhaps you're stuck in a rut; I argue that studying photo books will help you understand new methodology that you wouldn't have considered previously. I further argue that to create something new, we have to be intimately familiar with the past. 

Find your visual voice.

To paraphrase Bresson, your first ten thousand shots will suck. This is just true with any endeavor or practice that you want to make perfect. Perhaps out of the context of not sucking, do you want to find or refine your visual voice? Again, photo books come into play. Here we can understand a photographer's intent. Unfortunately, we are trained by Instagram and other photo-sharing platforms to only consider one image at a time. This is fundamentally incorrect. When an artist presents a body of work it's just that, a body of work. While some words in a sentence can be interesting, it's the sentence itself that really moves you. It's the entire paragraph of the full essay that can really inform your view of the world.

Similarly, understanding the full breadth of white one was trying to present is important. Consider Daido Moriyama's photo book "The World Through My Eyes." The book, of course, consists of individual images that are fantastic. But taking in the entire work changes the story the author was trying to tell. Taken together, you see the scenes of Tokyo. You get a full sense of what he was trying to say and ultimately what his visual voice is. 

Way to do the act of photography when you actually can't 

Coronavirus lockdowns have stopped some of the work that I would typically do. It has moved me to sit and reflect much more. The act of photography for me is catharsis. It's a way to express myself and entirely focus on something without any of the distractors of life. Not being able to do that has been challenging.

When reading a photo book, I can imagine what it was like for that photographer to take that image. 

Why was he standing there? How did he get into that position? Why did she choose that F stop? Why did she decide to use that perspective? How did the camera get so low? 

All these things are thoughts and ideas that go through my head when I'm out shooting. I find that I can use my imagination and literally bring myself to that place. I can be where the photographer was; I can imagine what they did. Believe it or not, this has helped me many times in my work.

And I hope this post is a help you. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. Part 2, how to study photos books, will be coming soon. 

Maurice D Masdeu…