Image above: The cover of Eat London: All About Food by Terence Conran, Lisa Linder, and Peter Prescott [Source: www.amazon.co.uk]
Before Lynn left to head back to Melbourne she bought me a copy of “Eat London: All About Food“ as a thank you present for hosting her during her stay in London which was so sweet of her.
We went through it together and I loved the book right from opening it as the cover jacket detaches and unfolds to reveal this rather cool gastronomic map of London showcasing new restaurants to try out as well other food stops to locate ingredients for the kitchen.
And the main content of the book follows up on the map explaining why each place got recommended, comments by the leading chefs about the food scene in London, and even some of their recipes for you to try out at home. All wonderfully visually expressed by the stunning food photography. Y’know, the ones that just make you want to eat the food right off the page.
Now the question is which place to try out first …
Image above: The cover of On Being A Photographer by David Hurn and Bill Jay. [Source: www.stephengrote.com]
On the same theme of a friend giving me something to read, a few weeks ago Jayna recommended “On Being A Photographer” [free PDF] to give some insights on what is to be a photographer rather than on how to take photos.
The book is written as a conversation between David Hurn, a well-respected reportage Magnum photographer, and his long-time friend Bill Jay, a well-published photographic author and academic.
David’s specialism is in reportage photography and he’s got some robustly defined views on what being a photographer is about and what it isn’t so it’s interesting following the debate between these two friends with the points made and argued over.
Picking the most distinctive point that I got was about being emotionally connected to what you’re covering.
“The of this type of work, say by Don McCullin, Abbas, Ian Berry, or James Nachtwey … and many more like them, have made it a point to understand their subjects, about which they care deeply – and they also care deeply about their pictures.”
Other points that caught my eye included
- On being a photographer … “I think of myself as a reportage photographer. I like the world. It implies a personal account of an observed event with connotations of subjectivity but honesty. It is eye witness photography.”
- On taking a photo … ”You see but you do not observe” [Quote from Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson by Arthur Conan Doyle]
- On the argument that all photography has been done before … “The immature artist imitates, the mature artist steals” [Quote from Calvin Trilling]
So definite recommendation – especially if you’re interested in documentary / reportage photography.
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