This book is the autobiography of the great scholar and translator Vairochana, as told to a group of his students near the end of his life in the eighth century. Responsible for bringing seminal Buddhist teachings to Tibet from India, his deep understanding of the Dharma was what enabled him to translate the essence of enlightened mind, conveyed in the Sanskrit texts, with great accuracy.
In premodern China, painters used imagery not to mirror the world, but to evoke unfathomable experience. Considering this art alongside the philosophical traditions that inform it, this book explores the 'nonobject', a notion exemplified by paintings that do not seek to represent observable surroundings.
In premodern China, painters used imagery not to mirror the world, but to evoke unfathomable experience. Considering this art alongside the philosophical traditions that inform it, this book explores the 'nonobject', a notion exemplified by paintings that do not seek to represent observable surroundings.
In this sexy, bold book, Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Brian Smith tells the stories behind the photos and lessons learned in 30 years of photographing celebrities and people from all walks of life. Smith’s long list of famous and infamous subjects includes pro basketball players Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O’Neal; billionaires Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Donald Trump; tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams; actors Anne Hathaway, Antonio Banderas, Christopher Walken, Taye Diggs, Jane Krakowski, and William H. Macy; and many more. You’ll get the inside scoop on what goes on at a celebrity photo shoot in this gorgeous guide to making professional portraits. Smith has mastered how to make a meaningful portrait on a magazine’s budget and on a celebrity’s schedule, which can sometimes be 15 minutes or less. Smith reveals his tips on connecting with people, finding the perfect location, telling a great story through portraiture, getting the ideal pose, capturing emotion and gestures, arranging unique group shots, and lighting the scene just right. You might not be photographing the rich and famous, but after reading Smith’s tell-all guide, you’ll know how to give everyone who makes their way in front of your camera the star treatment.
It is the dawning of a new world where a genderless Great One is assumed to know everything humanly possible. All that matters is its thoughts. It, however, carries a huge burden. It must engage an endless line of seekers, one at a time, on a mission to examine the nature of humanity. A man embraces his first new destiny that radiates compassionate thoughts and questions, such as Who do I want to be? As he does so, he is approached by a beautiful being who immediately envelops him in a complete state of surrender. Just as they discover their energetic fusion, a bright light appears who offers them a promise that will be fulfilledbut only by paying a price. As the man moves in time-space, he eventually joins several companions on a trail to meet the Great One. As he finally arrives in the Great Ones presence, the man engages in an unforgettable philosophical discussion about life. In this futuristic tale that offers a compelling illustration of what an active imagination can truly achieve, a man on a quest for the truth explores the vastness of humanity and all it encompasses as he moves through time and space.
No photographer works in a vacuum. Photographers, like all artists, stand on the shoulders of those who came before them, and they are informed and influenced by those working around them contemporaneously. If you are striving to find your own style, one of the most powerful exercises you can practice is to find influence and inspiration in the work of those around you, and then emulate that work in an effort to define, shape, and grow your own photographic voice. By collecting, imitating, and eventually reshaping and combining the work of those around you, your unique voice can be found and the quality of your work can soar. In Photograph Like a Thief, photographer, author, and retoucher Glyn Dewis embraces the idea of “stealing” and recreating others’ work in order to improve as an artist. By “stepping inside” others’ images, you can learn to reverse engineer their creation, then build an image yourself that simultaneously pays homage to that work yet is also an original creation itself. The book is divided into two parts. In Part 1, Glyn discusses his approach, covering the process of "stealing ideas" and finding inspiration. He also covers the gear he uses, as well as his retouching and post-processing workflow. In a very helpful chapter on “reverse engineering” a photograph, Glyn discusses how to “read” an image by the catchlights, shadow position, and the hardness/softness of the shadows. This is a crucial skill to acquire if you want to recreate another’s look. In Part 2, Glyn works through a series of images, from initial concept and influence to lighting, shooting, and post-processing the image to get to the final result. For each image, he reverse engineers the shot to describe how it was created and discusses how the image influenced him, then works through the gear he used, the lighting for the image, and the post-processing of the image—from the RAW out-of-camera shot to the finished piece. While Glyn's work primarily focuses on portraiture, he finds inspiration and influence from a wide variety of work, from legendary photographers to animated films to book covers to movie posters. By working alongside Glyn in Photograph Like a Thief, you too can learn to find inspiration all around you, discover how that work can influence you, improve your photographic and post-processing skill set, and begin your own journey to defining your unique style. Who knows? Soon, others may be stealing from you.
