Over the last few years, most books on photography emphasized explaining the new breed of cameras and how to master the digital imaging workflow. In The Art of Black and White Photography Torsten Andreas Hoffmann takes a different approach, as he focuses on image composition and image capture, with an emphasis on the creative aspects of black and white photography, rather than on the digital workflow.

After introducing the ground rules of composition, the author illustrates their applications with various photographic genres such as architecture, street photography, portraiture, and surreal photography with his own stunning black and white images. In the second part of the book, Hoffmann illustrates the elements of a “photographic language”, which distinguishes creative photography from random shooting. The final part of the book is dedicated to post-processing techniques, mostly in Photoshop (CS3), emphasizing the functions that are necessary for creating outstanding black and white images.

Target group:

• Photographers, Students

Author / Authors:

Born in Duesseldorf, Germany in 1956, Torsten Andreas Hoffmann is the internationally renowned photographer and author of illustrated books on New York, Paris, Rome, and the Himalayas.

Having spent his educational years studying art and majoring in photography, Hoffmann has dedicated most of his life to this craft. He is a teacher of workshops on composition and black and white photography, and shows his students how to find their own individual style.

Hoffmann specializes in the medium of black and white photography, as well as in the field of conceptual photography. His stunning photographs have been shown in numerous exhibitions in Germany and abroad, and have been published in many well-known magazines.

In addition to his many books, he regularly writes articles on picture design for the popular German magazine “Photographie”, and he is a regular contributor to LFI, the highly acclaimed international journal published by Leica.