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Book Review: Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography by Galen Rowell
Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography is
a book that I have been meaning to review for some time, but with the
recent, tragic death of the author in a light plane crash, its time to
put pen to paper. For my money this is one of the outstanding books on
photography philosophy, and should be part of every photographer's
library.
Galen Rowell was one of the outstanding adventure photographers
of our time. A major proponent of "participatory photography", Rowell's
unique approach was based less on equipment and technique, and more on
vision and philosophy. Participatory photography is an approach where
the photographer is not a passive observer of the subject, but someone
who is interacting with the environment and the subjects. Rowell was an
active participant, and as such was a noted mountain climber and hiker,
skills that allowed him to get a unique perspective that most
photographers don't even get close to.
Most of us have seen those photos of a climber hanging
delicately from a cliff face, and marvelled at the extreme situation in
which that climber has got themselves into. Yet few of us stop to think
about the photographer, who is right there in the same place taking
that photo. Many times that photographer was Galen Rowell.
His remarkable photographs have been featured in National
Geographic, Outdoors and Outdoor Photographer. He wrote 18 books; some
of them coffee table books, others more instructive about his approach
to photography, and some of them about climbing.
The Inner Game of Outdoor Photography is one of Rowell’s most
recent books. Inner Game is a compilation of various articles that
Rowell has written over the years for Outdoor Photographer magazine.
Clearly underwater photography is a form of participatory
photography - it is difficult for the photographer to be passive.
Although not known for underwater images, Rowell’s philosophy and
approach is one that underwater photographers should consider. Few
other photographers become so much a part of their environment as
underwater photographers!
As a matter of interest, Rowell did in fact do some underwater
photography, and some of these pictures are published in Inner Game.
When you look at these, underwater photographers may notice some
backscatter – a curse that most land based photographers never learn
much about. But the composition, the organisation of the elements
within the photo and the technical exposure are up there with the best,
as you would expect. His landscape and adventure photography are
without equal.
Many underwater photographers have an extensive library of books
on our subject. Many of us read up on photographic fundamentals,
landscape photography, macro photography and so on, due to the
parallels between topside and underwater techniques. This book is
different – it focuses on the philosophy and approach. These are
aspects independent of environment.
The Inner Game of Outdoor Photography is a superbly written and
beautifully illustrated book. I would recommend this book highly to
underwater photographers, landscape photographers, and indeed to any
photographer who understands the importance of vision in image creation.
Galen Rowell
WW Norton & Company
New York, 2001
See Galen Rowell's Inner Game of Outdoor Photography at Amazon.com (aff).