Cameras are back. Not photography — the meet-cute of iPhone and Instagram put that front and centre a decade and a half ago — but actual cameras, the kind that come with lenses and dials and shutter buttons. There has been a point-and-shoot resurgence: Kodak, which in 2012 announced it was quitting the camera business, has in the past couple of years dropped a handful of new models, all of them film. Smartphone filters have been relegated to the cutting-room floor.
Trouble is, it’s been so long since cameras were in vogue that there are increasingly few who know their aperture from their elbow. Equipment is one thing — but buying a Stradivarius does not a Nigel Kennedy make. Cameras cannot see or shoot by themselves; proper photos need those who know what they’re doing.
One who does is Mike Taylor, who this year became the first British winner of the CEWE Photo Award, the world’s largest photography competition. He has followed the win with his debut book, Click!, which comes with the commercially friendly, idiot-proof subtitle: “The $10 Book That Will Make You A Better Photographer And Save You A Fortune”.
Taylor’s guide relies less on icy mechanical instruction and more on emotional response. This is a book that aims to build a mindset of taking photos that resonate, rather than simply ensuring something is in focus. It is peppered with the personal: of Taylor’s childhood Kodak, of trips to Vietnam with his wife, of his stroke. All of them inform his approach, but they also demonstrate that our highs and lows might offer opportunity; that zig-zag careers can fuel a passion.
There is enough here for complete beginners — technical terms and starting points get their due attention — but what Taylor really seems to offer is encouragement to those who feel their talent is plateauing, or their interest is waning. He offers us a way of looking at the old afresh. Of course he does; that’s exactly what makes a photographer great.
