Masters of Landscape Photography | My Photo Bookshelf
This has got to be one of my favourite landscape photography books I own. Masters of Landscape Photography features 16 of the biggest names in landscape photography, each sharing 6 photos and the stories behind them.
Author’s synopsis
Landscape photography is one of the most popular genres for amateur photographers, with countless competitions and awards heavily subscribed by enthusiasts and professionals who are keen to pitch their work against their peers. Beyond the competitions is an even larger community of landscape photographers, who can be found tramping through the wilderness in search of their next great shot, ready to sit for hours until the light is just right. However, mastering the genre takes time: time to perfect exposure, colour, composition, and perhaps above all else the ability to see and record the landscape in a way that will make your photographs stand above the rest.
To set you on the path to success, Masters of Landscape Photography delves into the world of 16 leading lights, each with their own unique take on how, where, and why the landscape should be recorded. Through probing Q&A style interviews and beautifully reproduced images, the reader is given an insight into the artist s working practices, from the equipment they use to the techniques they employ to create their breathtaking and visionary works. In this lavishly illustrated title, glorious colour photographs sit beside atmospheric monochrome, the latest digital techniques rub shoulders with traditional film-based imaging, and conventional landscape mores are countered by experimental artworks, guaranteeing something to inspire the reader, no matter what their landscape persuasion.
My thoughts about the book
When I first came across this book, probably via a recommendation and saw whose work was included, I wasted no time clicking the “Buy Now” button on Amazon. Granted, a couple of the names were new to me back then, but when I saw the book featured the likes of Colin Prior, Art Wolfe, Joe Cornish and Hans Strand, I had to get my hands on it. All of the 16 photographers share 6 photos each, meaning the book houses close to 100 world-class landscape photos, each with a unique story alongside.
Putting the content to one side for a moment, I want to mention how the book is formatted. For each photographer, there is a small bio, 6 images with an accompanying story, a Q&A page with differing questions throughout, and lastly, a photo information page with details such as location, camera settings, etc for each image.
I like this format a lot as you get to know a little bit about the photographer (as I didn’t know them all), their thought process and approach to taking the photos and if interested, the technical settings for each. It sounds a bit wordy but it really isn’t as the editor has done a great job to prevent the type from overshadowing the beautiful imagery.
On that note, the way the book has been laid out is superb. Although it’s not a large book, the photos are nice and big and take centre stage throughout and the print quality for a mass-produced book like this is really good in my opinion.
This is a book I’m sure I will come back to again and again and with such varied sub-genres of landscape photography included it has a little something for everyone.
Book Details
Hardcover
Size: 285mm x 230mm
Pages: 176
Availability at the time of writing: Unavailable from the usual UK booksellers. Consider buying a used copy.