The best photography lessons are not from photographers
It would make sense to learn about photography from photographers, but the more I read the more I realize it is all just regurgitated information from other disciplines (intended or not). I think it is a good idea to work back to the original source of an idea, or at least find a good summary or interpretation of it.
Nature
Leonardo DaVinci said that when average artists just copy each-other, the quality of their work goes downhill fast. It is better to get inspiration from nature, and instruction from a well-diversified old master. This philosophy reminds me to be wary of who to take instruction from. Even taking YouTube as an example, videos from seasoned professionals should trump those from those with less real world experience, even if their productions look more polished. And going out taking pictures the real world yourself is better still.
Classical art
This is the source material for everything we know about light and composition. Why hear it third-hand from a modern mediocre photographer? Da Vinci gives a life time’s worth of wisdom in his notebooks, which are a very interesting read and much of it is still very relevant today. There are descriptions about perspective, shadows and the human form which has elevated a lot of trial and error in the way I compose and light my pictures. The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci actually covers a lot of useful things: light, shadow, perspective, posing, composition, how to practice, how to arrange your price list (true story).
Graphic design
Simplifying compositions to their basic elements and shapes makes it easier to understand how to arrange our images. It is interesting that different shapes summon different emotions from us - even the orientation of those shapes can have an effect. The relationships for forms and gaining a vocabulary to describe our compositional elements come from graphic design.
Psychology / body language
Not to gush about DaVinci, but he and other renaissance artists knew that expression is not limited to the face, but must flow through the entire body. This is how you realize a scene and introduce story, metaphor and symbolism. These may be a better third dimension for an image than the illusion of literal depth. The definitive book of body language by Allan Pease practically describes how you can use clusters of body positions to convey a story. This might be a more practical way to think about posing than to look at books about surficial posing, but don’t necessarily explain the reasons and meaning behind the movements of the human body.
Without a formal training in photography, it might be easy to forget that it is an art and a science that has built through history. A study of fundamentals doesn’t begin with the exposure triangle, but with composition and connection with the subject.
