Photo Book Reviews

From the late 1960s to today, David Bowie’s spark of creative genius has burned white hot, allowing him to build an impressive career and a highly unique body of work. He has the unmatched ability to successfully harness the best trends in music, art, photography and fashion and blend them together to form unique and ever changing performance personas with their own musical style and look. Each one of his characters seems to be an entirely different person offering an eager audience new musical and visual experiences. Most of us are familiar with albums like, The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars, Heroes, Diamond Dogs and Young Americans.

Vincent van Gogh once said, “Stars are the souls of dead poets, but to become a star you have to die.” Vivian Maier (1926 - 2009) was an amateur photographer who had no desire to share her work with anyone during her life, and kept a treasure trove of over 100,000 prints, negatives, and films in five storage lockers in Chicago. By several twists of fate, they ended up in the hands of a few collectors who recognized their unique quality, and are now shown in books, documentaries, museums, and galleries throughout the world.

Photographing Waterdrops is a beautifully illustrated how-to photography guide that serves as both a technical tutorial and visual photography inspiration. Its collection of imagery explores the world within the tiniest droplets of water. Written by award-winning photographer Harold Davis, author of more than 30 books including the bestselling title, Photographing Flowers: Exploring Macro Worlds with Harold Davis, this photography book is intended to offer a fresh, creative perspective into the dynamic possibilities of natural waterdrop photography. Davis draws from his professional expertise and artistic perspective to offer advice on capturing extraordinary waterdrop compositions. Readers learn how to use light and reflections to their advantage, which tools and equipment work best for macro photography, and how to perfect their waterdrop shots both before and after shooting.