The Photographer's Eye Remastered 10th Anniversary: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photographs

This is the best single volume on visual design and composition in years. Painters need a book this good. Freeman's earlier book from the 1980s, "Image," had long held the status, IMHO, of being the best single volume. His new book surpasses the older one by a significant margin. Freeman is one of very few photographers, or artists of any ilk, who can articulate their art-related thoughts in concrete, accurate, analytical ways, and not in the jargon of so much of what is written about art that lacks any actual content. Not only is he an outstandingly gifted photographer, with dozens of books to his credit, but one who has mastered the grammar of images and is one of the few who can describe how and why visual phenomena work. This is the most complete volume on this subject out there in terms of numbers of topics introduced and discussed at a reasonable length. It is also the most effective melding of the insights of current Gestalt perception theory with traditional design elements/principles in print. The first 60% of the book deals with the more concrete aspects of designing an image. The last two chapters marry the other part of composing that is harder to articulate well: the message in a image, or the photographer's intent. Only in this book has an author attempted to define major categories of intent in making an image. And then categorizes the physical and mental aspects of how a photographer goes after, constructs, or recognizes an image - the process. Throughout the discussions he introduces those aspects of digital imaging that a photographer can use to influence a picture's design. Perhaps the most powerful development is that digital in-camera and post processing technologies allow the photographer to apply to color images all those image control aspects formerly available only in the wet chemistry darkroom to monochrome images, as well as many more. Make no mistake.... This is a book for readers. One cannot get all of this book's benefit from the illustrations alone, in the manner of so many "how-to" art and photography books these days that have pictures, but little text. But this is the book to which thoughtful photographers will return over and over for many years. The only way it can be significantly better would be to have twice as many pages. It would make a wonderful textbook for any studio art, photography, art history, or art appreciation course in high school or college/university. 5 May 2009, update. The number of reviews, number of responses to reviews, and other sources of information indicate that this book is a certifiable best-seller among photography books. The response to this book indicates that there is a large market for information about the structure of images and for effective writing on that difficult, intangible interplay between design and content, or of structure and expression/message. My hope is that Freeman and other capable author/photographers will publish books delving further into the composition problem. To date, the in-print situation is grim. This one, Mante's, and Hoffmann's books are about the only ones yet in English that deal with composing photographs at higher than the most elementary levels. Together these three books comprise quite a strong presentation at the intermediate level of image structure and of various approaches to imparting meaning and expression in one's images. There is more, though, that can be said. To date there is no thorough look at the role of similarity and proportion in causing a viewer's eye to move through an image. That is to say, which characteristics among, shape, size, tone, color, direction, etc., assume priority in one's eye in which combinations, and how does proportionality, or violations thereof, work? To date, this reviewer cannot find any published research that updates Alfred Yarbis's ground breaking insights into eye movement in images from the 1950s and 1960s. His work is quoted to this day as the definitive study in this field. His results seem to imply that many artists' assertions about the role of "leading lines" may be nothing but bunk. Do light tones and bright colors really appear to project toward a viewer and darks recede? A Russian scientist has a considerable argument that, in fact, darks are what appears to "project" and lights recede. His work is not available in English. Is the success or failure of an image still articulable only at the level of intangibles? At this point in the history of the arts and contributions from visual psychology and brain studies, one should be able to make specific assertions about structure and its role in the success or failure of carrying the artist's expression or meaning. Unfortunately, there are very few artists or photographers who also write who can focus clearly enough on these nitty-gritty issues to make statements that have actual meaning. An inordinate percentage of writing about the arts still reduces to hand waving and ranting: always has, always will, it seems. It is one of Freeman's gifts that he can write analytically and be a very successful, versatile artist. This book's success indicates that the demand is there for hard-hitting information on images. Three authors does not amount to much of a supply.

Looking for a book on ISO settings? Shutter speed suggestions? Proper metering? Correct aperture for night shots? Photoshop techniques for HDR photos? Lighting for studios? Suffice to say there are 1,000's of books out there that cover these very important topics. This book is NOT one of them. As a pro photographer who values artistic vision over technical know-how, this book is a beautiful breath of fresh air. In this book, Michael Freeman takes you on a journey that will question everything you think you know about photography in general, as well as everything you think you are as a photographer. In an age where digital photography has become such a technological affair, it is nice to see a book that reminds you that photography is still an art. This is a book that reminds you that the camera-eye relationship to the environment, not the post-production, is the real paintbrush. This is a book that emphasizes framing a picture, rather than editing one. In essence, this is a book about how to take photographs, not what we can make them. It is a book about why photographs are interesting when we take them, not how we made them interesting later. If you are a beginner or a pro, this book can be extremely provocative in all the right ways. The sections about how to fill a frame, horizontal vs. vertical lines, movement, justifying your take on a shot, photographer's intent, exploration, and finding your style are some of the best I have read in any book. Overall, this is a book about composition and these are the main questions asked and explained in detail throughout: 1. What is your intent as a photographer? 2. Why did you put these particular objects in your picture? 3. What makes an interesting and thought provoking photo and why? I highly rec. this book to anyone who is interested in the seemingly forgotten ART of photography. It is well written, well thought out, and extremely useful as a tool in thinking about why we take the pictures we do and composing photos that are both artistic and compelling.

IT IS A FULL 5-STAR MASTERPIECE I reviewed this book for the first time on January 26, 2009. Today, May 18, I feel like improving my ranking from 4 to 5 stars (although the system does not allow me to do it). I still think that the book is not an easy reading, but it's the subject that is truly a difficult mission: HELP PEOPLE THINKING. Now, after having ground in my mind Michael's tips for several weeks, I have to admit that he mastered the topics with rare ability and profoundness. "The Photographer's Eye" is an endless source of sheer inspiration and a genuine spur to a different way of thinking, more comprehensive and thorough approach to photography. Believe it or not, my friends tell me that my pictures improved. I'm a better photographer, a deeper thinker, a more complete artist. To me, this book lives up to his title...... Max ------------------------------------------ First review on Jan 26, 2009 After a few weeks spent reading this book, I cannot help but giving only four stars, in open disagreement with many other reviewers. To me, the title is deceiving; by any means do not expect to find an easy-to-read check list of what to do or how to do it, nor a list of recommendations or tricks. Moreover, as far as the "composition and design" is concerned, the organization of the arguments and paragraphs doesn't give a proper flow of information and easiness to grab the messages. Bottom line: the book is not for beginners. Having said that, I would strongly recommend this book to a number of persons. I would recommend it to those experienced photographers that have lost their compass. To those that got stuck with and endless repetition of every day boring shots. To those that are forgetting to think before pressing the black button. To those that need to step back from their first, used reaction to shoot like a machine gun. The book is in fact a challenging journey to the inner self of any photographer. Mr. Freeman did write it not for pure business, but really to help any willing reader to grow. The Photographer's eye takes your hand through the most recessed convolution of your brain in a page-after-page involvement in a process that ultimately leads you to think to the way you take pictures compared to the way you want to take pictures. It's kind of father asking you what you would like to do when you become a grown up person (or photographer in this case). I really don't know whether I'll take any better photo after reading this book, but I'll for sure be a better photographer. Thanks Michael. Max

I had been looking for a book on design for ages, since they tend to be expensive, I looked in second-hand book stores first, but it seems that all I found there was way too boring and tedious for me: starting with basic shapes only to build up to how to incorporate them into photography half way through the book at best. That could very well be the way to go for serious design/photography students, but I do not have time or interest in something that detailed and technical. I wanted a nice overview of the techniques that are available to a photographer, and not just a "follow the rule of thirds" kind of advice that you get from most online photography tips, but a more profound discussion on why the rule of thirds is even important, how it tends to affect the viewer, and when is it appropriate to break it. And this book provides exactly that - a brief but concise overview of the most prominent design theories, based on the research on the way we see/interpret things. I am definitely not a design expert after having read this book, but I know as much about it as I need/can afford to learn at this point, being an amateur with no ambition to go pro in the observable future. The illustrations in the book ARE extremely well-chosen and beautifully reproduced, which is not always the case in photography books, alas. They are a treat to look at. To address some of the critiques voices here in the respect to this book: 1) No, it does not cover ISO, shutter speed and aperture, and you are better off buying the book by Peterson if that is what you need. I read Peterson first, about a year ago, and it felt right to read this book second, they are not in any way complementary, their focus is totally different, but combined, they provide you with a deeper understanding of what you do when you look through the viewfinder. 2) I find the book very well written. It's concise, clear and well-illustrated and I even found it a pleasurable read. I would definitely not say it is hard to read, it is not the most fun and light-hearted thing you'll ever read, but it's not fiction, it is technical writing, so it will hardly come as a surprise to you. It is definitely among the least convoluted technical books I've ever read. 3) As to "it adds nothing new to the matter"... Well, first of all, it IS a book that basically summarizes the last 100 years of research in the design and its perception, so it does not claim that it is ground-breaking and new! Second of all, this is a valid criticism only for those who already have dozens of photography books and are looking for more (but then again, if that is the case, why are you even looking into Freeman? he is clearly not geared towards a seasoned pro). If this is your first book on design, as it was for me, pretty much EVERYTHING in this book is going to be new for you to a degree (yeah, I've heard of the rule of thirds before, but never read a detailed overview of how it came about and why).

The other reviews go into great depth and tell the details of this wonderful book. I'll keep it simple. Pros: +Discusses elements of composition (lines, contrast, colors, balance, texture, subject, negative space, etc) +Great images with diagrams illustrating the concepts (there are simplified diagrams of the photos with arrows showing what the text discusses) +One of the only books that focuses on your image and not your camera (does not talk about ISO and your camera's menus) +Discusses images as works of art (often compares ideas/concepts with famous paintings) +Gives you information about the theories needed to understand and "read" images to enable you to make your own choices. +Forces you to think (this book will not spoon feed you tips) +Starts simple and builds +Very informative and helpful (In my opinion, the best photography book I have read) Cons: -Reads like a textbook (this is almost a positive if you're serious about learning more about your images / there is no fluff and the author doesn't try to be funny) -If you have attended art classes (drawing/painting/etc), you probably already understand most of this information. -Won't help you use your camera (it will help you see your shot) Bottom Line: This is the most helpful and useful $25 I have spent on my photography. If you want to learn how to make more interesting images, get this book.

This book is incredibly informative, detailed, and practical. It introduces basic and complex foundational ideas in an easy and approachable way, making it a joy to read. The concepts are explained exceptionally well, breaking down complex topics into clear, digestible insights. The illustrations are superb, perfectly complementing the text and enhancing the learning experience. On top of that, the print quality is excellent, which adds to the overall appeal of the book. For anyone looking to master the foundations of photography composition and design, this book is truly essential. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned photographer, it’s packed with value. Highly recommended!

Freeman is a master educator... He really gets behind the why of the composition and treats the reader as an intelligent self-aware learner looking for a lasting shift in his/her photographic sense of perception rather than a holiday snapper looking for some quicks tips or 'dummies list' for acceptable composition. This book does not throw solutions at you though it does deal with all the usual rules and tips on how to make spatial relationship between objects count towards a coherent composition. Rather it challenges us, the readers, to think about why we are taking a shot, what is the artistic message, and how to arrange the frame best to convey that view point. It aims at changing the paradigm in which we approach our photography to a more deliberate and artistic approach. In that, I think it succeeds. If you want a quick guide book for shooting certain kind of scenes well, this is not the right book. This one requires a proper disciplined study and then actual implementation of the principles discussed till it becomes second nature or a subconscious process. After all the unqualified praise for the book, why am I giving it 3 stars only, you may ask? It is only because the format for kindle is horrible! I'd say skip it and buy the hard copy. I had the hard copy which was great, but I lost it while moving and thought I should get the kindle version this time around because of its convenience. Big mistake! This is a book on photography...needless to say, the picture examples are a big part of the teaching and learning process, as well as inspiration for those of us at a lesser level in our photographic journey. In the ebook, the pictures are TINY and even then very low in resolution, and worse still, the colors seem off compared to my memory of the hard copy. One can barely appreciate anything of the artistry in those pictures, let alone be inspired by them. On the whole, it doesn't feel like an official publication but a poorly converted rip off. I guess 3 stars seem unfair to the author since not everyone will read the detailed explanation, but my score will contribute to the final rating in a small way. However, in a way I think it is justified as I am sure the author was involved (or should have been) in the ebook formatting process, and thus should have ensured that the ebook was presented in a more professional manner.

Having recently purchased and read both The Photographer's Eye and The Photographer's Mind by Michael Freeman, I will review both. Eye is easily the most helpful book I've read on photographic composition, discussing in clear terms framing, design basics, graphics, light and color, intent, and process. What I found especially helpful was the section on gestalt theory. While I have read about gestalt theory before, I have not found it quite so clearly discussed as here. Eye is a book to return to again and again. Mind, though it falters slightly near the end, for the most part maintains the same high level of quality as Eye in discussing "intent" and "style." Especially interesting is the section on beauty and the sublime ("Dead Monsters"), which dips into classical aesthetic theory going back to Burke, Kant, and Addison. In a book geared for the practitioner, such theorizing can easily go too far, but that is not the case here. In fact I could have done with a bit more classical theory. Even if one chooses to eschew classical principles, I believe it is better to do so knowledgeably than ignorantly. The cataloguing of styles is helpful. I found that I already use a number of styles in my photography, but I can now do so with greater awareness and confidence. I appreciated the web links throughout the book and the references to various photographers whose styles are discussed. I can highly recommend both books to amateur and advanced amateur photographers.

Ich habe mir die englische Ausgabe gekauft, weil ich einigen Rezensionen entnommen hatte, dass die deutsche Übersetzung ziemlich schlecht ist und offenbar maschinell erstellt wurde. Als angenehmer Nebeneffekt kommt hinzu, dass die engliche Ausgabe auch noch 8 € billiger ist. Das Buch überzeugt durch eine klare Gliederung und die Beschränkung auf das Gestalterische ohne die von vielen Fotobuchern gewohnten Ausflüge in die Kameratechnik oder die Bearbeitung mit Photoshop. Hier geht es von Anfang an um nichts anderes als Fotografisches Sehen, Komposition und Bildgestltung. Das wird alles sehr gut erklärt mit vielen Beispielen und Skizzen. Die sechs Kapitel (Image Frame; Design Basics; Graphic Photographic Elements; Composing with Light and Color; Intent; Process) folgen logisch dem gestalterischen Workflow und werden jeweils durch eine Seite allgemeine Erklärung eingeleitet. Die jeweilige Unterstruktur ist ebenfalls logisch aufgebaut und übersichtlich gegliedert, z.B. fangen alle Abschnitte links oben auf einer Doppelseite an, das macht die Orientierung im Buch einfach. Für mich durchgehend ein Gewinn. Wer sich mit dem Thema Bildgestaltung intensiv auseinander setzen will und wen das Englisch nicht schreckt, der sollte das Buch kaufen und durcharbeiten. Klare Kaufempfehlung von mir!

The book was superb and w as the perfect Christmas gift. The delivery was fast and came in time for Christmas.

Good presentation about the composition

Freeman dispensa apresentações. Seus livros detalham conceitos e técnicas de forma prática e interessante, com fotos e ilustrações excelentes. Este livro, que se concentra na COMPOSIÇÃO fotográfica e no DESIGN, me parece essencial para quem quer evoluir na fotografia. Recomendo muito!

In the sense it lets you interpret photos and compone them to make an intended impression into your audience. It also gives an overall insight into the sintaxis of composition and how it has changed along the history of this art.