Learn to ask better, more helpful questions of your work so that you can create stronger and more powerful photographs.

Photographers often look at an image—one they’ve either already created or are in the process of making—and ask themselves a simple question: “Is this a good photograph?” It’s an understandable question, but it’s really not very helpful. How are you supposed to answer that? What does “good” even mean? Is it the same for everyone?

What if you were equipped to ask better, more constructive questions of your work so that you could think more intentionally and creatively, and in doing so, bring more specific action and vision to the act of creating photographs? What if asking stronger questions allowed you to establish a more effective approach to your image-making? In The Heart of the Photograph: 100 Questions for Making Stronger, More Expressive Photographs, photographer and author David duChemin helps you learn to ask better questions of your work in order to craft more successful photographs—photographs that express and connect, photographs that are strong and, above all, photographs that are truly yours.

From the big-picture questions—What do I want this image to accomplish?—to the more detail-oriented questions that help you get there—What is the light doing? Where do the lines lead? What can I do about it?—David walks you through his thought process so that you can establish your own. Along the way, he discusses the building blocks from which compelling photographs are made, such as gesture, balance, scale, contrast, perspective, story, memory, symbolism, and much more. The Heart of the Photograph is not a theoretical book. It is a practical and useful book that equips you to think more intentionally as a photographer and empowers you to ask more helpful questions of you and your work, so that you can produce images that are not only better than “good,” but as powerful and authentic as you hope them to be.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Better Questions
PART ONE: A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH?
Is It Good?
The Audience's Good
The Photographer's Good
PART TWO: BETTER THAN GOOD
Better Subjects
PART THREE: BETTER EXPRESSION
Exploration and Expression
What Is the Light Doing?
What Does Colour Contribute?
What Role Do the Lines and Shapes Play?
What's Your Point of View?
What Is the Quality of the Moment?
Where Is the Story?
Where Is the Contrast?
What About Balance and Tension?
What Is the Energy?
How Can I Use Space and Scale?
Can I Go Deeper?
What About the Frame?
Do the Elements Repeat?
Harmony
Can I Exclude More?
Where Does the Eye Go?
How Does It Feel?
Where's the Mystery?
Remember When?
Can I Use Symbols?
Am I Being Too Literal?
PART FOUR: BETTER PHOTOGRAPHS
The Heart of the Photograph
Index

David duChemin is a world and humanitarian assignment photographer, best-selling author, and international workshop leader whose spirit of adventure fuels his fire to create and share. Based in Vancouver, Canada, David chases compelling images on all seven continents. When on assignment, David creates powerful photographs that convey the hope and dignity of children, the vulnerable, and the oppressed for the international NGO community. When creating the art he so passionately shares, David strives to capture the beauty of the natural world. Find David online at davidduchemin.com.

David duChemin's profile page

"The Heart of the Photograph is a wonderful book packed with wisdom rooted in experience. David articulates some complex ideas, distilling them into clear writings and poignant questions, and prompting readers to consider what makes photography not only a means of making images, but also a means to a richer life, self discovery, and deeper engagement with the world."

— Guy Tal, Best-selling author of More Than a Rock

"Duchemin really gets to the heart of what photography is about, and that’s not ƒ stops and mechanics (there are plenty of other books about those, though largely un-needed). He invites you not just to think about the reasons for shooting and how to make the image work graphically, but to question all these decisions. To be your own critic, which seems to me an essential that is usually missed."

— Michael Freeman, Best-selling author of The Photographer’s Eye

“David DuChemin’s new book The Heart Of The Photograph is an emotional meditation on what really matters when we make photographs. His 100 Questions For Making Stronger, More Expressive Photographs are rich food for thought and for the soul. Reading this book will give you time to pause and reflect on what matters most to you and your photography. What could be more important?”

— John Paul Caponigro