具体描述
Absolute consistency of results - producing a
desired picture with every click of the shutter - is
not necessarily an ingredient of photographic exper
tise. Even top professionals make mistakes. But one
characteristic that sets the expert apart from most
amateurs is an unerring sureness of intention. The
best photographers are fully aware of the effect they
want to achieve, of the compositional and technical
means for achieving it, and even of the uncontroll-
able variables that might, at worst, sabotage the
appearance of the picture.
The images on the following nine pages, all by
photographers who have won international acclaim,
show a wide range of contrasting intentions. For
example, the picture by Burt Glinn opposite catches
a moment of dramatic action, conveying a sense of
speed, urgency and narrative. Other pictures in this
portfolio are concerned with human character or
the environment we live in, or take an idiosyncratic
approach that reflects the photographer s esthetic
preoccupations. However, the link between al] the
pictures here, and in the rest of the book, is that
they attain excellence within limits that the photo-
graphers have set themselves. This clarity of purpose
is one of the fundamental lessons that amateurs can
learn from professionals, In part it depends on a
thorough mastery of technique. Once you are
familiar with the repertoire of techniques available,
you can 2o on to confidently photograph any aspect
of the world that ~nteresLs you and, in the process,
develop your own individual style.
