The Photographers Eye: A graphic Guide

Taking a new look at composition, the theme of his bestselling classic THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S EYE, Michael Freeman now explores the visual mechanics of photography in its own native terms. Lushly illustrated with straight-to-the-point diagrams and graphic deconstructions, this new, digitally remastered edition speaks in that intuitive, visual, and instantaneous language in which photographers think and work.

Each section is organized into discrete units that articulate a working method for communicating particular ideas and capturing certain subjects. Dive into beautiful images and explore how each compositional element is placed and arranged in relationship to each other. Examine the outtakes from each shoot to understand why one particular image succeeded, compared to those shot before and after. Track the viewer’s eye as it moves throughout the photo to see the optical dynamics held within each frame. And most of all, internalize this graphic language so you can instantly recognise amazing and powerful shots as they appear in your own viewfinder.

Author Biography

Michael Freeman, professional photographer and best-selling author, was born in England in 1945, took a Masters in Geography at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and then worked in advertising in London for six years. In 1971 he made the life-changing decision to travel up the Amazon with two secondhand cameras, and when Time-Life used many of the pictures he came back with, he embarked on a full-time photographic career.

Since then, working for clients that include all the world’s major magazines, most notably the Smithsonian Magazine (for which he has shot more than 40 stories over 30 years), Freeman’s reputation as one of the world’s leading reportage photographers has been consolidated. Of his many books, which have sold over 4 million copies worldwide, more than 60 titles are on the practice of photography. For this photographic educational work he was awarded the Prix Louis Philippe Clerc by the French Ministry of Culture.

Freeman’s books on photography have been translated into 27 languages.