Day 324: Book Review: The Photographer's Playbook by Various Authors

Never before have I read such a wonderful assortment of ideas, inspiration, and motivation all directed towards photographers. This playbook has everything you could ever need as an artist when it comes to thinking outside of the box and really crafting your images. While it avoids much of the technical side of photographer, nothing if found lacking within the pages.

It has taken me literally years to get around to reading this book, and I must say I was surprised at how much I had been missing with having not read it. To know that so many ideas and inspiring words were lying under my nose this entire time is crazy to think about. However, I finally read through from cover to cover and found that it far exceeded all my expectations.

This book, edited by Jason Fulford and Gregory Halpern, is composed of 307 assignments and ideas for all photographers. While the word assignment might seem drawl and boring, the first page of the book assures us that they, "define the word assignment loosely. An assignment can take the form of a lesson, a game, a starting point, or a challenge."

Every page has something to offer and every pages is completely unique having been written from a different artists perspective. There's truly something in here for everyone. I found pages I feel in love with, words like these: "Our photographs come from our imaginations, our curiosity, our questions, our hearts, our memories, our dreams, and from all of the different things that make us human." And then there were pages I felt no connection to, but I know another artist might.

Photographers are so different from one another, with different backgrounds and upbringings. It's so fascinating to see how together they form an entire book of wisdom, insight, and what to do and what not to do. They give you rules and tell you to break them. It is a wonderful mess of chaos that comes together to form the most perfect playbook ever written.

But the overlying message above anything else in the entire book, is to be your own photographer. Be your own human being because there are so many different ways to do things. There are 307 different ways in this book alone and while it's wonderful to drawn inspiration from other artists, our true journey of discover must be taken through out own art with our own eyes.

If you are a photographer, you desperately need to read this book. It will give you ideas and inspiration when you lack it and you'll never have to wonder what other artists have thought when facing a situation like one you could be facing now. This will be a book I take off of my shelf quite often for just like it says on the first page, "There may be things in here that don't quite resonate now, but will down the road."

Rating: Five Starts 
Re-readability: Extremely High  
Get It Here

Until Next Time,
Lillian Merritt