While there are many courses and tutorials online, learning from a book is still one of the best ways to greatly improve your skills. Below I have selected top Photography Art books.
- The Art of Photography: A Personal Approach to Artistic Expression (2017)
- Art Photography Now (Second Edition) (2011)
- The Photograph as Contemporary Art (World of Art) (2014)
- The Art of Photography (Digital Photography) (Volume 2) (2014)
- The Art of the Photograph: Essential Habits for Stronger Compositions (2013)
- Art and Photography (2012)
- Photography and the Art of Seeing: A Visual Perception Workshop for Film and Digital Photography (2011)
- Learn the Art of Bird Photography: The Complete Field Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Photographers and Birders (2018)
- The New Art of Photographing Nature: An Updated Guide to Composing Stunning Images of Animals, Nature, and Landscapes (2013)
- Art Photography (2016)
- The Masterworks of Charles M. Russell: A Retrospective of Paintings and Sculpture (The Charles M. Russell Center Series on Art and Photography of the American West) (2009)
- Photography: A Middle-Brow Art (1996)
- Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West (The Charles M. Russell Center Series on Art and Photography of the American West) (2018)
- The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography (2015)
- How to Create Stunning Digital Photography (2012)
The Art of Photography: A Personal Approach to Artistic Expression (2017)
This is an updated and newly revised edition of the classic book The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression. Originally published in 1994 and first revised in 2010, The Art of Photography has sold well over 100,000 copies and has firmly established itself as the most readable, understandable, and complete textbook on photography.
Art Photography Now (Second Edition) (2011)
“An essential book for anyone interested in contemporary photography.”―ArtReview Now revised and expanded, this essential survey presents the work of eighty of the most important artist-photographers in the world. The book is divided into seven sections―Portrait, Landscape, Narrative, Object, Fashion, Document, and City―that explore the diverse subjects, styles, and methods of the leading practitioners.
The Photograph as Contemporary Art (World of Art) (2014)
“Essential reading for anyone who wishes to make sense of the complex . . . world of contemporary art photography.” ―Picture Professional In the 21st century photography has come of age as a contemporary art form. Nearly two centuries after photographic technology was first invented, the art world has fully embraced it as a legitimate medium, equal in status to painting and sculpture.
The Art of Photography (Digital Photography) (Volume 2) (2014)
THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY is Book 2 of the Digital Photography Series. It is a highly illustrated guide to camera settings, composition guidelines, and sources of inspiration. Learn how to move from snapshots to works of art. In this second book of the DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES by Al Judge, the focus is on artistic presentation and pleasing images. Learn from the experience of others.
The Art of the Photograph: Essential Habits for Stronger Compositions (2013)
photography guide filled with tips on lighting, equipment, inspiration, and more.Featuring more than 200 of master photographer Art Wolfe’s stunning images, The Art of the Photograph helps amateur photographers of all levels break bad habits and shatter common yet incorrect assumptions that hold many photographers back. This is Wolfe’s ultimate master class, in which he shares the most important insights and techniques learned in four decades of award-winning photography.
Art and Photography (2012)
This text offers a comprehensive survey of a rich and important period of photographic history, from the 1960s to the 21st century. Arranged thematically, it presents works by the most significant international artists who have explored and extended the boundaries of photography.
Photography and the Art of Seeing: A Visual Perception Workshop for Film and Digital Photography (2011)
The second book in Freeman Patterson’s internationally acclaimed series of instructional books on photography and visual design, has now been updated and expanded to include technical guidelines adapted for both digital and film photographers. The jargon-free text provides techniques and innovative exercises for breaking with traditional concepts of design, enabling the photographer to develop a keen awareness of subject matter and a direction for composing the picture.
Learn the Art of Bird Photography: The Complete Field Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Photographers and Birders (2018)
Learn the Art of Bird Photography is a comprehensive field guide to bird photography – so you can create beautiful bird images. Bird photography can be difficult, but with this book, you will learn how to make it easier, and you’ll learn how to be more successful and create beautiful images. This book contains more information about bird photography techniques than any other book on the market today.
The New Art of Photographing Nature: An Updated Guide to Composing Stunning Images of Animals, Nature, and Landscapes (2013)
What is the difference between a good picture and a great one? In this fully revised edition of the classic bestseller The Art of Photographing Nature, master photographer Art Wolfe and former Audubon photo editor Martha Hill team up to explain the art of composing images of enduring beauty.
Art Photography (2016)
In the last decade, interest in photography has exploded. Among the most compelling and popular art forms, photography is now recognized as central to the development of modern and contemporary art. In this accessibly written survey, art photography comes alive through a series of frames—from documentary style and pictorialism to archives, narratives, and the conceptual uses of the medium.
The Masterworks of Charles M. Russell: A Retrospective of Paintings and Sculpture (The Charles M. Russell Center Series on Art and Photography of the American West) (2009)
In the decades bracketing the turn of the twentieth century, Charles M. Russell depicted the American West in a fresh, personal, and deeply moving way. To this day, Russell is celebrated for his paintings and sculptures of cowboys at work and play, his sensitive portrayals of American Indians, and his superlative representations of landscape and wildlife.
Photography: A Middle-Brow Art (1996)
The everyday practice of photography by millions of amateur photographers may seem to be a spontaneous and highly personal activity. But France’s leading sociologist and cultural theorist Pierre Bourdieu and his research associates show that few cultural activities are more structural and systematic than photography.
Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West (The Charles M. Russell Center Series on Art and Photography of the American West) (2018)
As one of America’s most prominent nineteenth-century painters, Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) is justly renowned for his majestic paintings of the western landscape. Yet Bierstadt was also a painter of history, and his figural works, replete with images of Plains Indians and the American bison, are an important part of his legacy as well. This splendid full-color volume highlights his achievements in chronicling a rapidly changing American West.
The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography (2015)
The Art, Science, and Craft of Great Landscape Photography teaches photographers how to convert their visual peak experiences-moments of extraordinary natural beauty that evoke a sense of wonder and awe-into stunning images that elicit the same awestruck emotion in their viewers.
How to Create Stunning Digital Photography (2012)
Stunning Digital Photography is much more than a book; it’s a hands-on, self-paced photography class with over 14 hours of online training videos and free help from the author and other readers. That’s why award-winning author and photographer Tony Northrup’s book is the #1 photography book with over 250,000 readers.
Best Photography Art Books that Should be on Your Bookshelf
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some photography art books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
SEE - Art Esthetics Dental Photography
Author(s): FAGD Amanda Seay, DDS, FAACD
ID: 3227136, Publisher: Edra Publishing US, LLC, Year: 2022, Size: 60 Mb, Format: epub
Photography after Postmodernism: Barthes, Stieglitz and the Art of Memory
Author(s): David Bate
ID: 3329110, Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2022, Size: 9 Mb, Format: pdf
The Interior Landscape: The Landscape on Both Sides of the Camera: Reflections on Art, Creativity, Expression, and a Life in Photography
Author(s): Guy Tal
ID: 3350596, Publisher: Rocky Nook, Year: 2022, Size: 82 Mb, Format: epub
Please note that this booklist is not definite. Some books are really record-breakers according to The Wall Street Journal, others are composed by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.