Train Your Gaze: A Practical and Theoretical Introduction to Portrait Photography

by Roswell Angier

Learn to take beautiful, surprising, stunning portraits with Train Your Gaze. Author Roswell Angier, a renowned photographer and portraitist, explores the theory and the practice of shooting human subjects in this practical guide. The easy-to-navigate format allows the reader to use the book as a cover-to-cover, step-by-step course in portrait photography, or as a handy reference for setting up specific shots--or both. Technical talk is kept to a minimum; the emphasis is on creating remarkable portraits in many different ways. Illustrated with images from some of the world's most influential photographers and artists. Train Your Gaze is sure to train photographers everywhere to think about portraits in a bold new way.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2006

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic textbook for a portrait photo course. Angier lays out the various themes and strategies within this broad field without overwhelming the reader. The assignments are great suggestions that are backed up by Angier's mastery of the technical and his inclusion of strong examples from both the history of photography and relevant contemporary photographers. And the cover image is one of my favorite photographers. This book is about art photography, not commercial or photojournalism. Paired with Charlotte Cotton's nice intro book, The Photograph As Contemporary Art, this makes for a very nice beginning portrait photo course!

[Richard Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a portrait photographer and teacher of portrait photography - I like where Angier takes us in exploring portraits - however I find sometimes the writing to be so academic to force me to close the book. I have adapted some of the assignments to fit my class however a few of the assignments aren't relevant to most classes focused on this topic. There aren't many books that tackle portraits with a serious focus and I am glad that this one does. I reckoned it to my students but we do not use it as a tectbook.

[Dave Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author explains how to learn to see the portrait. Each chapter includes examples from well known photographers, as well as an assignment. Useful read for any aspiring photographer who desires to make a photograph rather than take a snapshot--- pressing the shutter with little or no preconceived mental image of what you desire to capture

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for it, mostly because of the "interesting" pictures that it contained.

[Chee Fai]

This book is tough.

[Nathaniel Rosa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fucking boring wishy-washy artsy fartsy waste of money - in my opinion, of course