555 Lessons is a project inspired by a little gem I recently acquired. It is a 1962 Czech book aimed at photography enthusiasts called "555 Photography Faults". I admire the book negativistic approach to the subject which is in contrast to majority of self-improving books teaching the reader what to do to achieve beatiful photographs. The authors - Erich Einhorn (established Czech photographer and writer) and Premysl Cervenka - focus rather on faults and (sometimes) lessons learned from them. And indeed, they manage to collect quite a spectrum of errors, mistakes, and faults, ranging from very technical issues (like "Your Rodinal developer is exhausted!") to the most existential topics troubling a photographer (such as "Why nobody likes my pictures?").      

Lesson 0 - The Book (bad focus)

Lesson 1 - The Oyster (light leak during developing)

Lesson 2 - El Carro Azul (Henri Cartier Bresson - The decisive moment)

Lesson 3 - The Bar Window (A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant.)

Lesson 4 - Thirty-six frames (loading film into a camera)

Lesson 5 - Nude {low angle not flattering for a body) 

Lesson 6 - Selfie {confusing space orientation}

Lesson 7 - Still life with Araki and spices (film expired in 1996)

Lesson 8 - Kalapana (semantics of the blacks)

Lesson 9 - Temple (rule of thirds)

Lesson 10 - Dolls {Landscape vs Portrait orientation}

Lesson 11 - From the bus (window light reflection)

Lesson 12 - Green is the sea (Orton effect) 

Lesson 13 - Stair C 1 at MoMA PS1 (semiotics overload)

Lesson 14 - Sunrise (Emotional lomography)

Lesson 15 - The Doors (Harsh midday shadows)

Lesson 16 - Three Lights Setup (Model pose too stiff)

Lesson 17 - Commercial landscape (Contemplating Gursky's "Rhein II" - the most expensive photograph - on a train with curtain down) 

Lesson 18 - Skewed (unstraightened lines give viewer an instant vertigo)

Lesson 19 - Wet rope (minimalist surreal photography does not mean taking picture of every cute thing on the pavement)

Lesson 20 - Sashimi for a friend (boring by-the-book ballanced composition)

Lesson 21 - Two self-portraits (The parallax compensation is necessary when shooting  close-ups with rangefinder cameras .)

Lesson 22 - Light haze (Never use flash on Jesus)

Lesson 23 - Conversation (Never use flash when snowing)

Lesson 24 - Coney Island babies (confusing juxtaposition)

Lesson 25 - Loneliness ("If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough.” - Robert Capa)

Lesson 26 - Valle de los Ingenios (Document photography should not only romanticize the village life)

Lesson 27 - "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite." (Short shutter speed should be used for moving subjects.)

Lesson 28 - Before the storm (Inappropriate mood, all Miami Beach pictures should be joyful)

Lesson 29 - A tree is a tree is a tree (oversaturated)

Lesson 30 - En attendant Beckett (Picture of another art should bring substantially new quality)

Lesson 31 - Morning mist (Outdoor photographs taken in fog often appear dull and unattractive)

Lesson 32 - Eiffel tower (choose a sigle key subject on the picture and focus on it)  

Lesson 33 - Caracas (outgrowths and mergings are among the most common composition errors)

Lesson 34 - Diagonals study (New aestheticism is post-theorical)

Lesson 35 - Siesta (when a portrait session takes too long, the model might get bored)

Lesson 36 - Mixed media (when the result of the session satisfies neither the model nor the photographer)

Lesson 37 - Check, one, two, three, ... (rewind the first few frames of the film to avoid partially exposed pictures)

Lesson 38 - La playa oscura (central compositions are boring)

Lesson 39 - People at the exhibition ("I always look for the most interesting silhouette or something that's a little off, but I have to figure it out."
Rihanna)

Lesson 40 - Shanghai (Steve McCurry - "A powerful picture becomes iconic of a place or a time or a situation." Or not.)

Lesson 41 - Edward Hopper-esque cafe (slow shutter speed)

Lesson 42 - Silhouettes (Cannot see the forest for the trees.)

Lesson 43 - A Bus (How far can one go with minimalism?)

Lesson 44 - Sisyphus ("The struggle itself ... is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." - Albert Camus)

Lesson 45 - Golde Gate Bridge (Wait for the weather, wait for the weather.)

Lesson 46 - Not a Camper advertisement (Lock shutter when handling the camera to prevent accidental shots.) 

Lesson 47 - Las Vegas {Pop-up flash provides too harsh light for most occasions.)

Lesson 48 - Milan (The most common portrait mistakes: too much space above head, distracting background, wrong angle, wrong pose, poor location choice.)

Lesson 49 - Goa ("Kitsch art may often contain palatable, pleasant and romantic themes and visuals that few would find disagreeable, shocking or otherwise objectionable.")

Lesson 50 - Temple of Heaven (Message is principal, form is auxiliary.)

Lesson 51 - Francis Bacon in Blue (Keep your model at ease.)

Lesson 52 - Crossroad (Should photography be a reflection of reality?)

Lesson 53 - Vilanova i la Geltrú ("The criteria of deconstructive radicalism - expressed in ideas like 'the conditions of no art,' and 'every man is an artist'- could be applied to photography primarily, if not exclusively, through the imitation of amateur picture-making.", Jeff Wall)  [see also Lesson 28 (inappropriate mood)]

Lesson 54 Seagulls (Thou shalt not seek romanticism in post-apo pictures.) 

Lesson 55 - Tiananmen Square (Go closer to capture individuality, if there is any.) [See also Lesson 25 (Robert Capa)]

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