Book feedback -John Blakemore - Black and white photography workshop

John Blakemore - Black and white photography workshop

David and Charles 2005

This is a book that I picked up through an internet search on John Blakemore. I had picked up an awareness of John through a comment on my own work, I had made a long exposure of a treeline which allowed the leaves to blur out and my piece was likened to a series of shots that John had made. This of course induced some curiosity and I sought out this book.

This book for the most part discusses ways and means of processing black and white film using a zoning system to make the most of the tonal range of his photographs. However it also spends a lot of time talking about composition and ways of seeing. Now as a digital photographer, well, maybe I should say as someone who does not process my own film, this may seem mostly irrelevant. On the contrary, I found that the advice and thought process can apply as much to mono conversions within 'Lightroom' as it does in the dark room.

There were two very clear areas of learning for me from this book. One practical, the other conceptional.

 The first was with regard to processing. That is the value of tonal balance within a piece. To ensure that a photograph doesn't have any tonal shocks for want of a better phrase. High contrast is of course still a valuable effect when used correctly but that doesn't mean one can't still have balance across the photograph as a whole. It may mean simply dodging a corner where the light was a little stronger to please the eye or maybe something more substantial but the overall message is a clear one, tonal balance works. You need to spot it, and correct it.

 The second area of learning for me was a better understanding of composition. Chapter 2 takes us through John's 'Tulip' journey. A wonderful narrative starting with John's turmoil of self doubt in his photography that went into describe his obsession with a single subject which lasted for years. The inspiration for me here comes from his dedication to the one subject, how he disciplined himself to simply take one subject and show how photography of that one subject can be approached is so many different ways. This leads the reader into a realisation of just how free composition can be and how one has to open the mind to step away front he 'obvious shot' and towards pure creative freedom.

For me Johns book was my first solid step from conventional 'snap' photography to photography as an art form. Also to its credit it is written in plain English, in a way the less academic student can really understand and relate.