Training our lens on books of particular interest to photographers and picture-overs

by L.M. Orlando
This month's selection of books includes two biographies of men who have made significant contributions to the field of photography: Wallace Nutting's artistic and creative vision helped make photography an accepted form of art and brought art into the homes of mainstream America. Eadweard Muybridge's motion studies and advances in photographic technology allowed for the eventual development of motion pictures as we know them today.
Also included are two books that offer practical tips and useable information for both the amateur and the professional photographer, Michael Freeman’s Digital Photography and Whale and Barfield's Digital Printmaking.

Digital Photography-
Special Effects
Michael Freeman
Watson-Guptill Publications
$29.95
Michael Freeman's book Digital Photography-Special Effects is a comprehensive reference for anyone interested in learning more about image editing-the conversion of digital images into works of art. Freeman's book begins with an explanation of the basic hardware and many options in image-editing software and filters available today. This book does not provide detailed instruction on any particular software, though Freeman frequently refers to the popular image editing software Adobe Photoshop. Instead, Freeman focuses on the various special effects, first on basic techniques like color control, color to black-and-white, and photo stylizing, which frequently includes "aging" a photo, then moves on to more complex effects such as lighting effects, atmospheric effects, mist and mood effects, textural effects, and distortion effects.
Within the explanations of each of these, Freeman includes information on software and techniques that would help the digital photographer apply the desired effect. Many times, Freeman provides the specific dialog box from the preferred software, with the appropriate menu items highlighted.
Once Freeman has introduced each of these special effects, he focuses on the application of each one-determining the appropriateness of each effect, when it would be best applied, which one would be the most effective for a given project. Special effects may be applied to aid in the telling of a story, to compress time, to make the subject more attractive and appealing, to alter reality or create new worlds, to combine familiar objects in unfamiliar ways, or to create symbolic images for advertising.
Freeman is a true expert, for years photographer for Smithsonian magazine, and this expertise shows in his writing. His book, of interest to photographers at all levels of competence, includes over 700 color illustrations, adequate definitions for the beginner, and detailed information that would be educational for even a seasoned professional.
River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West
Rebecca Solnit
Penguin Books
$15.00
Rebecca Solnit's River of Shadows details the life and times of Eadweard Muybridge, inventor of high-speed motion photography-which ultimately led to motion pictures and the movie industry as we know it today.
He was born Edward Muggridge, near London, England, on April 9, 1830, at the time when the first passenger railroad opened and the process of photography was still in its infancy.
Solnit details Muybridge's contributions to modern-day photography. In the 1860s, despite a brain injury incurred in a stagecoach accident, Muybridge became very involved in landscape photography. This led to his interest in photographing moving objects. During his lifetime, Muybridge devoted considerable time to motion studies, taking photographs and analyzing the movement of the objects. As a result, in the 1870s Muybridge invented a camera shutter that allowed rapid motion to be captured in focus, rather than as a mere blur. Muybridge was also responsible for advancements in film technology.
In addition, according to Solnit, Muybridge improved on the zootrope and developed the zoopraxiscope, which projected images onto a screen.
Muybridge took panoramic pictures of San Francisco and traveled the world photographing scenic sites, ruins, and the different people. Many examples of Muybridge's work are presented in Solnit’s book, giving the reader the sensation that he is watching not only the evolution of Muybridge's work but the development of the photographic process as well.
Solnit’s book advances beyond mere documentation of Muybridge's life. She explores the environment, the changing world in which Muybridge lived-at a time in history when industrialization was just beginning and technology was just beginning to touch everyone’s lives.
Digital Printmaking
George Whale and Naren Barfield
Watson-Guptill Publications
$19.95
According to the authors, George Whale and Naren Barfield, Digital Printmaking is intended for “the student or the practiced printmaker who is experimenting in a new area.” However, this book did not deliver on its promise to either audience.
Artists and photographers frequently seek quality and affordable means of reproducing their work. Digital printmaking is one such option. But digital printmaking requires more than basic computer knowledge, a technical discussion of printers, general information on traditional printmaking, and a lesson on which programming language would be best for graphics programs.
The first two chapters of Whale and Barfield’s book discusses such very basic topics for novices as information on computer components and peripherals, a discussion of different printer types, and an introduction to various software programs and their purposes. This basic information is followed by information on scanning images, tips for a perfect scan, and basic image manipulation, like cropping, copy and paste, and color correction.
Following this very basic information, Digital Printmaking presents advanced techniques, using technical terminology that assumes advanced knowledge on the part of the reader. Additional information is provided about combining digital printmaking with traditional techniques like relief, intaglio, screenprinting, and lithography.
This book concludes with a discussion of using commercial printers and creating custom programs for printmaking using Basic, Pascal, C, or C++, as well as scripts and virtual languages like HTML and VTML.
Readers may find certain of the sections of this book useful. However, for the most part, Whale and Barfield did not adequately direct their book to any particular audience. This book is too basic for experienced printmakers and too advanced for beginners.
River of Shadows: Eadweard Wallace Nutting and the Invention of Old America
Thomas Andrew Denenberg
Yale University Press
$35.00
Denenberg’s Wallace Nutting and the Invention of Old America is a comprehensive guide to the life and works of this revolutionary minister turned author, photographer, and entrepreneur.
Denenberg chronicles Nutting’s life from his birth in 1861 and his poor childhood in Rockbottom, Massachusetts, to his death in 1941. During Nutting’s lifetime, America faced the challenges of two world wars, immigration, and industrialization—the evolution of American life from that of an extended farming community to one of urban existence. Denenberg focuses on Nutting’s attention to middle-class America and the nostalgia for the past, which resulted from this industrialization of America. He presents the detailed evolution of Nutting from an amateur photographer interested only in photography as a hobby to his contributions as an accomplished professional.
In many of Nutting’s early works, he specialized in interior photography, using young female subjects dressed in traditional colonial garb. Examples of these works, as well as Nutting’s sentimental images of rural America’s homes, churches, and the wonders of nature are presented in Denenberg’s book, together with works of many of Nutting’s contemporaries.
Nutting’s entrepreneurial spirit led him from photography to the acquisition and preservation of several homes and buildings called the Chain of Colonial Picture Houses. These buildings were restored and preserved in their original condition. They were used as museums and also display places for Nutting’s work. Though this was not one of Nutting’s most successful ventures, it was a significant period in his career. Through the preservation of historic sites, Nutting was bringing his art to life. Denenberg includes details on this project, together with photographs of each site, so that the reader can follow the progression of Nutting’s career.
Following the failure of the Chain of Colonial Picture Houses, Nutting established a publishing company. Nutting’s books on historic and nostalgic New England sites were a significant contribution to the tourism industry. As with Nutting’s other ventures, these books were marketed to the middle class, who were likely to have the means and opportunity to travel to these sites.
Denenberg’s book provides thorough coverage of Nutting’s life, together with a gallery of Nutting’s work, and analysis of Nutting’s significant contributions to art, photography, and history, particularly his work as it relates to the changes in American culture and the changing role of women in society.