‘Visually Speaking’ Teaches You How to Take Lasting, Meaningful Photos

“My goal with this book is simple: I want you to understand how to communicate an idea that resonates with the person who views the image,” Ted Forbes, author of “Visually Speaking” and the face behind The Art of Photography YouTube channel writes.

“Visually Speaking” is, if you were to sand it down to its basics, a book about how to be a good photographer. From this perspective, there are hundreds if not thousands of similar books out there. But what Ted does differently here, and what he has done differently for his entire career, is explain how someone can not only craft a great photo but then take those skills and use them to create a photo worth remembering.

Ted is a dear friend of mine and over the years of knowing him personally, every moment with him has resulted in me learning something. It’s not enough to understand how a camera functions and often it’s not even enough to know the rules of what makes for a well-composed image. There is more to it, this “secret sauce” that turns a good photo into a great one, and a great one into one with a legacy.

But putting into words what has the potential to do that is, I thought, impossible. It’s something you have to feel or, in my fleeting attempts at it, stumble into. But somehow, Ted created a book that manages to explain it. It’s a thick book, so it’s not necessarily “easy” to convey but I think Ted has come the closest I’ve ever seen.

“The idea that makes photography so interesting is how it requires many disciplines to produce the final image. It brings together art, physics, optics, chemistry, and digital technology, in addition to what’s in front of the lens in any given photograph,” Ted writes, coming to the same conclusion I did.

“There is no shortage of books on photography… I found there were way too many books, especially in the last twenty years, most over explaining how to get an exposure correct. There are a lot of books on how to break into the wedding industry and how to shoot portraits for a living. There are books explaining software and how to edit your images. There are books on how to develop film, how to print in a darkroom, even books on how to revive early photography practices. There are books on lighting, books on toy cameras, and books on making a pinhole camera. There are books on the history of photography and picture books of amazing work from famous photographers. And then there are countless self-published books by amateur photographers (some of them quite good, others not so much) and even photography zines. There are books on just about every aspect of photography, except for the actual act of photography itself.”

The reason for this is that it is hard — too hard — to put to words how to be a photographer. You can explain where to put yourself, what settings to use, how to capture a desired subject in focus, how to properly compose it. But for the same reason I will always believe that it will be impossible for a robot to make a meaninful photo, those elements of photography cannot just be combined to create excellence.

If you will allow me to be a nerd for a moment, anyone familiar with Fullmetal Alchemist will know that just because you perfectly combine the elements of a human — down to the exact measurement of each element of their makeup — you cannot make a human. There is no recipe — there is not even a quantifiable measurement — for soul.

Ted doesn’t tell you the recipe for adding soul to a photo. He can’t, it’s not possible. But what he can do is tell you how to find that soul for yourself. “Visually Speaking,” as the title suggests, is about communicating with photos. It will give you a complete idea of what you need to put together so your photos can tell their own unique story.

“Art is not ‘paint by numbers’; it is an act of creativity. Intelligent art has structure, and the challenge is what you decide to create within that structure. Just like literature, dance, music, architecture, or any other creative medium, photography must evolve to represent the culture we live in currently,” Ted says.

Ted is a great teacher because he asks you to do the hard parts. He’ll put you in the position to make greatness, but he won’t do it for you.

And that is why when he teaches you, you will succeed.

All of that comes across in “Visually Speaking.” Reading the words on these pages, I hear his voice. It’s true to who Ted is and that means I can now carry my friend with me everywhere, where he will help me be the best version of the photographer inside myself. He can do that for you too, I think.

This is not just me hawking something from a friend of mine. If you know me, you know I don’t do that. No, this is a book I like from a person I trust and admire. Photo books have always meant a lot to Ted — his home is full of them. His cumulative knowledge is incredibly valuable and that is obvious with every page in “Visually Speaking.” If you can, I encourage you to check it out, because what Ted writes in his introduction is exactly how I know he feels:

“My desire is for you to set the world on fire, then write your own book one day to inspire others. You’ve got this!”

Image credits: Ted Forbes, Visually Speaking, Whalen Studio Editions