Photography, like many art forms, is a broad field filled with specific disciplines and focuses. Mature photographers may dabble between a few different disciplines, but there is usually one or two specific disciplines in which they have chosen to focus their body of work. So as you develop as a photographer and you have learned and mastered the basics, you will find yourself looking to focus on a specific aspect of photography. You will find yourself looking for resources to help you learn. If you don’t have a mentor, the next best thing is a book on that specific discipline. For me, one aspect that appeals to me is close-up photography. So in my quest, I stumbled upon Bryan Peterson’s new book, Understanding Close-Up Photography. I was fortunate to acquire a copy of this fine instructional book from Watson-Guptill, the publisher, for review.

The book is meant to be helpful for first-time students exploring this genre of media, as well as educators, activists, artists, and human service professionals wanting to lead Digital Storytelling processes with local communities. The book makes general arguments but always lands in practical help for someone trying to make their first digital story. But how should you understand this book? To start with, despite an emphasis on helping people to make a media document, this is not a book about writing and producing media work for broad distribution. We are discussing forms of personal storytelling as an expressive form for anybody, from students in a middle school to retirees in a nursing home. In this sense, it is not about authoring multimedia stories as a profession. I still hope would-be professionals or committed amateurs find some useful thoughts here as well. This is not a book about becoming an author, but authorship is certainly a central topic of this book. And also how authorship creates agency in life and social interactions. Being the author of your own life, of the way you move through the world, is a fundamental idea in democracy. We want to help everyone use the power of storytelling to project their authority, to expand their sense of being celebrated, of becoming at whatever level, a celebrity within their community.