The Black Series ebook
150 pages - now available in English!
Marco Gresslers bestselling book now as ebook!
This book about black and white portrait photography contains many tips to help you improve your skills and many of my works as examples and sources of inspiration. Sometimes it is also very personal, because for me portrait photography is about the personality of people - even behind the camera.
The Black Series – Portraits in black and white:
Of course, this book is mainly about my work, how I approach portraits, from preparation to the finished picture. There are so many steps that are important in creating a good portrait, and probably the least important is pressing the shutter button!
That may sound strange at first, but it all starts in the head when there is no camera involved yet. One of the most important lessons I've learned as a portrait photographer is definitely that it's not so much about getting the sharpness perfectly to the point, choosing the composition absolutely perfect or choosing the right camera setting. All of this is definitely not unimportant, but a good portrait is created at the level between model and photographer. The chemistry, the emotion and everything that happens in that context is much more important! Therefore, this book is structured like an illustrated book and not a reference book for photography, even if I am of course writing about the details mentioned above. The most important thing about photography is developing your own style, because that too is an expression of the photographer's character. So I don't want to give instructions on how to take photos, but rather to provide inspiration to further develop this own style.
A good portrait is a look behind the eyes, a look into the soul and, for me, an extremely intimate moment. It allows a brief glimpse into a world that has more depth than we may ever understand ourselves. With our logic and our whole consciousness we are only scratching the surface of what defines us as human beings.
If we can open a crack for a short moment and some light comes into this world, then you can create a portrait that captivates us and in which we have the feeling that it is more than “just” a picture.
For me, this special kind of depth can only be achieved by black and white portraits.
Of course, that doesn't work with every picture - and it also depends on the emotions that are conveyed.