The Photograph: Composition & Color Design | 
 enlarge | Author: Harald Mante
Publisher: Rocky Nook
Category: Book
List Price: $49.95
Buy New: $28.92
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 25312
Format: Illustrated
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 280
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.6
Dimensions (in): 11.3 x 8.7 x 0.9
ISBN: 1933952261
Dewey Decimal Number: 778
EAN: 9781933952260
ASIN: 1933952261
Publication Date: March 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: All orders ship same business day via standard shipping (USPS Media Mail) if received by 1 PM CST.
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Product Description
Harald Mante, one of the most distinguished teachers of the photographic arts in Germany and an internationally recognized master of photography, brings his teaching to us in the English language for the first time in more than 30 years. In The Photograph Mante explains the elements that are essential to achieving the highest level of visual design in photographs. This book is geared toward the serious intermediate and advanced photographer who strives to create outstanding images. While a deep understanding of photographic techniques is required in order to master photography, technical knowledge alone is not sufficient to create outstanding images. Beyond the technical aspects, the crucial elements that determine the quality and strength of a photograph are the content of the image and its organization within the image frame. This is where the "art" of photography comes into play. Truly creative photography is based upon knowledge and mastery of design and of how the viewer perceives images. The creative photographer can exploit this knowledge and push image-making in new directions. Mante explores the principles of line, shape, point, color, contrast, composition, and design in significantly greater depth and at a higher level than most any book available to date. He also covers a number of techniques to enhance expressiveness in a photograph to support the photographer's intentions. These in-depth lessons are beautifully illustrated with more than 600 images from Mante's own portfolio, plus over 160 diagrams. The Photograph is a unique book that is sure to become an invaluable reference for anyone involved in photography-from the hobbyist to the professional; for both the digital and analog photographer; and for those practicing, studying, criticizing, or administering in the visual arts.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Thoght-provoking challenge to conventional approaches July 3, 2008
John L. Hemingway (Macomb, IL USA)
Mante's "The Photograph" joins Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye" as a must read for anyone who takes a serious interest in photographic composition. Though it probably won't be an easy read -- Mante does occasionally make considerable demands on the brain and the eye -- it will almost certainly be a rewarding read. You will likely find yourself taking, looking at, and thinking about photographs differently.
Mante organizes his book around five basic concepts, each of them the subject of a separate chapter: point, line, shape, universal contrast, and color contrast. His discussion of these concepts is enhanced by numerous diagrams and photos. Understanding the text requires studying the diagrams and photos, sometimes including putting the book down for a while and then coming back to it. Mante wants photographers to think differently about their craft, which means shaking off their usual ways of seeing what's in front of their cameras. The final chapter demonstrates how the five concepts might work together, using Mante's own work (the photos are his throughout the book).
There is something in Mante's approach that I find quite challenging but am unable to express precisely. Conventional photography books tend to take the subject as a given to which conventional rules (e.g., the rule of thirds, placement of the horizon, shooting early or late in the day) can be applied more or less effectively. Mante wants to pull the photographer out of this often basically reactive mode by instead taking the subject as something in which the photographer is far more actively, creatively involved. This means challenging pre-existing ideas about what our "subjects" may be. It means genuinely internalizing the notion that we don't find or dis-cover subjects already out there, but instead have a more direct role in creating those subjects by the very act of taking photographs. Our subjects, in a way, need no longer also be objects.
It's obvious that I'm still trying to work through the implications of Mante's book, but that in itself convinces me the book is worth reading. Whether or not it makes me a better photographer remains to be seen, but it has made me re-examine my ideas about what "better photographer" means in the first place.
 Not terribly bad... not terribly good either July 2, 2008
Olivier Devineau (Fort Collins, CO, USA)
Still reading this book... There is some interesting stuff in there for sure but it is terribly put at a disadvantage by the writing style and page layout of the book.
Interesting points are delayed in useless assertions such as "the landscape format is the traditional format for landscape pictures" or "... the portrait format gives a visual impression of begin somewhat narrow relative to the height..." The style is quite repetitive and fitful due to very short sentences.
The page layout is organized with pictures on the upper page and text on 4 columns in the lower page. Because some pictures are also inserted in the lower page, one of the columns in the lower part of the page is regularly left blank, forcing the reader to "jump" over the gap, from one column to the next. Worst of all, diagrams and pictures referenced in the text are almost never on the same page as the reference, and they are not referenced in the order they appear (eg diagram H called before diagram A...) which forces the reader to go back and forth from one page to the other. Fortunately, chapters are short so it's mostly one or two pages to flip to see the picture corresponding to the text.
All this makes the book fairly difficult to follow, which is a pity because, again, there is interesting stuff in there. Because of that, I find myself reading only 1 chapter at a time... or reading only the text without caring about references to images, and then taking time to look at the pictures only...
(side note to Rocky Nook: why the chunky hardcover format and not the nice small paperback used for Take Your Photography to the Next Level: From Inspiration to Image ?)
Regarding the text, I would say you can skip this book and go for an introductory (or not) book about drawing.
The pictures are good though... They cover a wide range of subjects/styles and they are inspiring. They make it worth having a look at the book. And they explain the 2/5 rate.
A systematic breakdown on the compositional elements of a photograph May 30, 2008
Aspi Havewala (Chicago, IL USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is my first text on picture composition and design. I've read books about the technologies involved with photography and books that explain why a particular photograph really works.
But Mante's book explains the principles behind good photographs. And the value of this is that it gets you past understanding why a particular picture looks good and into how you can replicate the success of that photograph.
How exactly does Mante go about doing it? He breaks his large book down into the basic elements of interest in a picture. There are five major sections on photo composition in the book dealing with points, lines, shapes, universal contrasts and color contrasts.
All through his text, Mante deploys copious photographs - some almost thumbnail size. I found this to be hugely useful because it gave me lots of data points for each of the principles described by Mante. There are multiple elements at play in each of the pictures, but instead of explaining all of them at once, you tend to focus only on the ones being described. This allows the reader to understand the mechanics contributed to the picture by the immediate principle alone.
Return of an old classic May 13, 2008
Michael Freeman (London, UK)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This may seem to be a mutual back-scratching club, as I'm following a review by Tom Campbell, who also reviewed my own book, The Photographer's Eye. Nevertheless, I'm compelled to say that this is the welcome return of one of the classics of composition in photography. And excellently updated and revised, too. Mante methodically and sympathetically presents an exhaustive account of the formal elements, from points and lines, through colour, to purely photographic forms such as time sequences. His painter's training allows a refreshing and rare cross-discipline analysis. An essential read for anyone with an interest in design in photography (and any photographer SHOULD have just such an interest).
Michael Freeman (author of The Photographer's Eye, among many others)
John Nemo's MyMac.com Review May 8, 2008
Tim E Robertson (Battle Creek, Mi United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Serious photographers! Immediately purchase and immerse yourselves in this extraordinary volume of instruction and inspiration. Of all the hundreds of photo and image texts we've reviewed at MyMac Magazine, The Photograph - Composition and Color Design is the most important one for helping intermediate to advanced photographers grasp the precision and acuity necessary to achieve the finest images. Those are strong words, matched by author Harald Mante's strong content.
He is an acclaimed German professor of photography who has been teaching and publishing photo textbooks for over 45 years, with numerous exhibits in many countries. Such a resume is mere fluff if his photos and tutorials aren't impressive, which they certainly are.
Over 600 of Professor Mante's powerful photographs illustrate his lessons, each of which is accompanied by detailed descriptions, plus charts and graphs of his own creation. Photo presentation is world class, as are all production values within The Photograph. My heart was racing as I turned page over page, both from Professor Mante's sensational photos and with enthusiasm for his methods.
You must understand image design (composition) and color design to be a top notch photographer. If you consider yourself already to be at your peak, the mountain will rise by the application of Mante's methods. Beginning with "The Point," and progressing through line, shape, and contrast, concluding with "Using the Tools," this book is its own reward. Your photos improve as you marvel at the author's.
Now stop reading, and order The Photograph - Composition and Color Design. Then send us a thank you note.
MyMac rating: Perfect 5 out of 5!
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