Just this past weekend after my boyfriend and I watched a movie, we passed by one of our local Borders book stores. With its massive fall into bankruptcy, Borders is now liquidating its inventory with large discounts on every item in the store. Avid readers and seekers of knowledge, we ventured in to browse. He went immediately his direction and I headed straight to the photography section.
There in the photography section I found myself in a slight panic, wondering if I missed out on some of those well-hidden gems; those books of inspiration where I would feel compeltely immersed in the emotion and feelings of each of the images on the pages. This is the section my little sister and I would venture to as teenagers, pulling books off the shelves from famed photographers such as Herb Ritts and Annie Leibovitz. Each portrait they showcased spoke volumes of their subject, and I was hooked. Fast forward to present day, and I would still venture to book stores and spend hours sitting on the floor, perusing and finding inspiration.
On this trip to the book store, I walked away with 2 gems. The first book, “The Golden Hour,” is a personal account and history of one of my favorite photographers of all time, Herb Ritts. Ritts is known as a fashion and celebrity photographer, who eventually spawned into creating music videos. He has captured some amazing iconic images of celebrities and at that time, pushed the envelope. I never tire of looking at his portraits, feeling the emotions, and delving into a visual explanation of who they are.
The second book I purchased is a bit more avante garde, and is called “Extreme Beauty in Vogue.” It is filled with mind-bending images, lots of juxtaposition and images that force you to find the story. The images showcased in here challenge me to find the similarities of all their subjects, and how each piece of the image forges me towards the end storyline.
After suffering from food poisoning for the past 3 days, I've spent a lot of time in bed, reading and finding wonderful inspiration from these 2 books. It helps to expand my self-imposed boundaries, and forces me to think outside the box. My mind is reeling from ideas I will be using in future photo shoots and I am looking forward to sharing those with you.
