Brooklyn Beckham's Book Is Laughably BAD
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มิ.ย. 2024
- Today we're reviewing Brooklyn Beckham's photography book 'what i see' which is basically the epitome of nepotism in practise. It's bad. Really, really, really bad. Brooklyn Beckham is the son of David and Victoria Beckham and a self-proclaimed model, photographer, chef, and 'absolute nutter'. Let's take a look!
Apologies for whatever I managed to do while exporting this video that absolutely compressed and destroyed a couple of my photos... they look far better as prints, I promise!
~~~~~GET MY POETRY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK NOW~~~~~
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0:00 Intro: Who Is Brooklyn Beckham?
2:30 My Background in Photography
10:03 Marketing and Reviews
13:07 Brooklyn Attempts To Write
15:39 The Burberry Campaign & Nepotism
20:08 Just A Family Photo Album
23:34 A Lack of Fundamental Skills
27:51 Everything Wrong With 'dinner.'
46:49 Tattoos
51:38 Getting Experimental & Editing In vs Out
56:56 What Are Leading Lines?! Who Needs A Straight Horizon?! What Is Fotoz?!
1:00:50 Elephants and Memes and Elbows
1:09:58 Wonky Wonky Wonky
1:15:52 Myspace Pics & The Neverending Selfies
1:18:44 It's Not All Bad
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Sadly I'm not going to be around for the premier this time but I'll try and check in on the comments on my phone! :)
Until then, I have to apologise whatever I managed to do while exporting this video that absolutely compressed and destroyed a couple of my photos... they look far better normally and as prints, I promise! But hopefully the couple of dodgy colours / bit of noise /glitches don't detract from the points I'm making.
Also, my book is now available here!
UK: amzn.to/3gxvqiy
US: amzn.to/3XtWf7X
Canada: a.co/d/1K3orWs
You are certainly and extremely BIASED. His parents are famous and he comes from MONEY. BUT U FAIL TO MENTION THAT BOTH PARENTS WORKED FOR THEIR MONEY. It’s very COMMUNISTIC OF U TO PIT DOWN THE RICH. If u WANT MONEY. Well, WORK!!! You, struggled etc .
This PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK IS CONCEPTUAL ART BUT WITH A FAMILY FRIENDLY TWIST
@@leynadebono4754 plus She is probably a communist-socialist who hates the rich.
@@leynadebono4754 He’s 23. Please stop acting like this talentless hack is a little boy who should be protected. He’s a grown man and this book wouldn’t be published if he didn’t have daddy’s money.
@RachelOates, It sounds like you have your pictures in the AdobeRGB colorspace or even something bigger (ProPhoto RGB) that does not allow importing in more sRGB oriented colorspaces (OK ok, video typically is not sRGB but something closer to the Rec.709's and other ones, but still).
You might want to check that out :) .
As for the people commenting on how she is critical of someone at 18: She has other video's where she clearly states that she definitely would not hit on someone this hard if they would be any random person.
She clearly states that if someone has been born in privilege due to having famous parents and then starts to brag about an ability he or she doesn't really have, without realising that the ability to publish the results of that supposed ability or whatever it is someone does and being quite vocal about it, is the result of those famous parents, that's what the problem is for her. I think she once worded it in a different video as follows: "If you are going to go public with the end results of your ability, you might also want to be prepared to face criticism, because it's not as if you have not been a public figure before."
I know we all have opinions on nepotism babies nowadays but... Brooklyn may be the winner of the "most likely to have no career if his parents weren't famous" award
Y’all hate PEOPLE WHO ARE WEALTHY. SO CULTURAL MARXIST OF U
@@Palestinian_holocaust His art is lazy and incompetent, Yusuf. If you're glorifying his lack of ability just because he's rich, that says more about your deficiencies than it does anyone else's. Which you're entitled to, but also... weird, I'll be honest.
@@Palestinian_holocaust These people wouldbt be wealthy without a great amount of people loving them. Brooklyn has no artistic competance/common sense in art.
@@thelexicon7294well said
@@Palestinian_holocaustNobody hates him. They just think he’s a talentless hack. Why are you defending him? He’s not going to marry you.
He took a photo of his feet. Like every other 9th grade photographer. And he got a book out of it? Nepo babies need to be stopped!
There is a point of who you are born in to where it is truly difficult to fail in life.
@Metonymy1979: "Nepo babies need to be stopped!"
> Don't blame/hate the player, blame/hate the game?!
😂😂😂😂😂
Gosh if Nepo children were stopped Hollywood would collapse. But again that might not be a bad thing
My boyfriend has the same shot come up in his snap memories from 6 years ago
The elephant page is hilarious. Of all the wildlife there is elephants are NOT hard to photograph, they are active during the day, their skin has a lot of beautiful texture, they are slow, they allow humans to be relatively close to them, they are huge, .... I could go on forever
Sleep Paralysis Elephant is a solid Brooklyn cryptid
Loses points for lack of elbows
Ridiculous and hilarious is like a theme of his book
So cringe, I have seen so many good pictures of elephants. These spoilt, rich, celebrity kids only seem to be worth as "models".
I've taken better pictures of elephants as a child at the local zoo with whatever camera we had back then. Elephants really aren't the hardest thing to take at least decent pictures of.
😂😂😂😂
“is it really this boring to be brooklyn beckham?” I would have ended my career
I would’ve deleted all my social media and never come back lmao
What is his career
If I spent money on a photography book that had IPhone mirror selfies in it I would become an arsonist.
I feel like anyone who bought this book was a Beckham family fan and not really a fan of photography
first the book, then the whole world!
I really liked this video because Rachel is proficient at explaining what I can't about art that sucks. "Bad" art is actually something I like. When people break the rules on purpose it is fun for me. I really enjoy it and can stare at it for hours and giggle to myself about how bad it is and how brilliant the artist is because of that. Art that sucks is so much harder to explain. "Boring, lazy, incompetence" are the best words to describe why a piece sucks rather than moving into the category of "badart". I dont enjoy art that sucks.
I love bad art as well, especially photography, so I was a little hesitant about this video-Rachel was right on the money tho, just like you said!
*_Fellow bad art enjoyer_*
I feel exactly the same, for example I really like music that isn’t the most well produced but you can tell it comes from the artists heart and they put everything in to it. That’s why I like ‘outsider’ music and smaller indie artists
fellow lover of art that is made clarly with care, love and enthusiasm , but also very weird and off for whatever reasons. For example maybe nostalgia but ilike atman at robin , an i dont blame shoemaker but th production is a mess.And that apearently it was a glorified toy commercial, by the studio,
or artists who are clearly not good but super passionate. I mean flawed very passionate art is as , even good, or fun. O funny a lot of times. Plus it shows character
Bad art says something about society
Boring art only says something about the person that made it
The biggest question is why David and Victoria let him fall so bad like they looked the book and said "yeah son you are ready to be pro" 🤔 or now when he tries to cook they immediately made him serial for it like people chill and let that young man train a little not just find something in him and trying to make career out of it. I feel parents are far more responsible for all of this mess rather than Brooklyn himself
That’s a great point
Yea I agree, they should of helped him into a career instead of just throwing their money at him, I mean Richard Branson told his kids that they can have access to his money whilst he's here but they're getting nothing from him when he's gone and I think he's children are successful in their own right, I think one is a lawyer and the other one has a full career also but I can't remember what in, Sting has done the same with his kids to, and that's what's missing with the Beckham kids especially Brooklyn, he's a 'all the gear, no idea' person and that's on his parents just as much as him, they should of made him go into some work to earn his own money not this farcical photographer rubbish, or his I'm a chief rubbish which is very insulting to both carriers when people have to train for many years and put thousands of hours in to make it in those careers, it's wrong really
Spot On.
I'm actually puzzled at that, coz by most accounts, Posh and Becks are hard worker in their respective lanes.
Somehow, they failed to instill those values onto that kid. Worse, They enable some very loose attitudes about him.
I assume it was ok to publish the book because he made money off it. Beckham sold his should for Qatar because they offered the right price.
This kinda reminds me of something I read about one of the Smith’s red table talks where Will and Willow discuss how when she said at 11 that she wanted to do music he jumped behind her full force and then whip my hair came out and she went on tour and in his attempt to support her he like ruined her interest in it. Bc she’s a kid and when children say they want to do something they want to do it for fun not as a job. And then she like rebuilt her interest herself and created music she wanted to and has become talented in her own right (she’s still there from nepotism but she is talented at least and makes good original music). I think rich parents that didn’t grow up rich want to give their children all the opportunities and support they didn’t have when pursuing creative outlets. And then it leads to, an 11 yr old going on tour and becoming over worked and sad, or a kid releasing a bad photography book with a major publisher.
Even my parents when I was a kid bought me a sewing machine and a dress form bc for like 5+ years I was very interested in fashion and wanted to go to uni for design
Brooklyn got blessed with both his mum's talent and his dad's personality
Ruthless, love it.
🤣
😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅 that was brutal
I'm crying
I lol'ed.
Everyone has the right to express themselves and have hobbies, doesn’t matter if you’re good or bad as long as you enjoy it, it’s all good, it’s just a bit crazy that this guy has been able to publish a photography book with this rather low level of skill just because he has rich and famous parents lol, it does just look like someone’s phone gallery in places. I guess he’s technically a photographer because he takes photos but personally I wouldn’t describe myself as a sculptor when I’ve sharpened a pencil before (if that makes sense). Being a bit exaggerative there sorry lol, nepotism is a subject that gets me kind of annoyed because there are so many talented people out there who don’t get these opportunities because their parents aren’t rich and they have to do all the work themselves. Thing is these nepotism babies have likely been told their whole life that they’re amazing and it’s unfair because they won’t have room to grow if they think well I'm already the best so why bother
absolutely love "i wouldn't describe myself as a sculptor when i've sharpened a pencil before"
So just nepotism and capitalism, but also are we shocked? It’s just Olivia jades british cousin^
I think it’s nice he’s trying different art forms rather than just being a rich baby…..
@@izzyred6562 Yeah that's cool but it's just the fact that he got a book published without even knowing the fundamentals lol
If only people knew that publishing anything (book, art, literally anything) doesn't require talent. The amount of badly written books out there not written by celebrity kids and still published is vast. In fact, with fairly small resources anyone can publish an e-book, too. I see no issues of someone printing their camera roll off their phone. I kinda wish I done that too 🤷
Came for the roasting of Beckham, stayed for the hour long lecture on how to be a better photographer ❤⭐
I feel that all of us (Brooklyn included) could learn a lot from this video :)
Don't worry about his photography, he's a 'chef' now 😆
There is no way that either his parents are decent cooks… so I can almost guarantee he sucks at this also
the dinner photo is so uniquely insane to me because an actual thing we learned in my (high school!!! i have to stress i was like 15 when i took this class!!!!) photography class was how to do those really cool photos where things are blurry, but it looks cool instead of like you took a bad photo. you know, like, those pictures where one person is in focus but the people around them are blurry or the buildings are perfectly clear but all the cars on the street are just streaks of light. purposeful blurriness! brooklyn even does it later!
here's the big secret: a tripod. you just use a tripod. you don't even have to use an actual tripod, just stick your camera somewhere and make sure that it doesn't move. that's literally, like. all it would take to instantly improve the photo by like tenfold and he's rich. he can afford a tripod. he owns a multiple thousand dollar camera and a gorillapod is like twenty bucks???????? please buy a tripod brooklyn holy shit.
I love the passion of this comment 😂
Or to help a lot with focus, just change the apature to f8. There’s an old photographer’s saying “f8 and forget about it”. :-)
Not necessarily a tripod, but using the flash on second curtain and at a low flash exposure compensation freezes the person right before the shutter closes due to the flash being fired that moment, while the other things happening in the background are not exposed by the flash as well as the person in front of your camera, which can help reaching this effect as well.
Though this situation is typically more something you'd do inside.
@@StorytellingHeadshots I do not fully agree: In those purposeful blurry parts of an image you'd want to have some out of focus parts, even if the effect is barely visible but would be nearly impossible to see at f8.
"Sometimes cameras don't capture the dynamic range the human eye can see" I really love that point, describing the gap between what the camera "sees" and our own perspective. Makes me think the "it all looks amazing in person" is just about finding or lacking that "dynamic range" we love.
It can also be a huge thing of how a picture get's processed later on. Sunsets typically are quite bland due to that problem of limited dynamic range and in order to get them to look more like what you witnessed in real-life, color-correction is pretty common to do.
The limited dynamic range is what I always taught people in making TV reports, when it came to putting on a light on the camera I typically got asked: "Why?" and I explained that in bright sunlight, the sky will typically go over-exposed no matter what you do, but if there's someone with the sun in their back standing in the frame, you want to light up their face as much as possible to at least balance that difference out a bit. And if you make the mistake of having someone with the sun in their eyes, you will want to brighten up the shadows below their eyebrows as much as possible.
Needless to say a lot of people usually never took a light with them, at all...
As a semi-pro photographer and filmstudent myself I have a lot of respect for you and your photography skills and it is interesting to see your take on these. The pictures in this book are pictures of maybe the level I was on within my first few months on my first DSLR, they're on a level of someone playing around with a camera and finding out which thingy does what. It makes me absolutely mad of him being handed Leica and Hasselblad cameras, cameras I can only dream of and will probably never be able to afford to use, and him taking bad snapshots and having them published as art, also something lots of very talented photographers never get the chance to, because of who he was born with. This is just one perfect representation on how capitalism destroys art. I think it is absolutely fair how you critisize this pictures bc that is the arena he went into when publishing this and the things you point out are absolutely grounded in the most basic and essential things to know about photography which he just doesn't seem to understand or be interested in.
I am self taught and when I got my first beginner DSLR I wanted to learn about all the things that go into photography, I went looked at great artists, what made their pictures so good, I learned about the different settings, composition methods because I was thirsty for more knowledge about this topic, but he seems to have been shooting for two years at least (since he was 16 at the fashion shoot) where he basically seems to have learned NOTHING at all. I think his grasp on his privilege is similar to his understanding of photography, he thinks he got a good grasp on it, but actually he has no idea how far he is from actually starting to grasp anything.
I have a hasselblad I bought in a whim, I’d love to give it to someone who it’d actually mean something to use. Is there a way to get in touch?
Wow, really great insight in your comment, thank you! Though wouldn’t the bigger issue be elitism/nepotism destroy art rather than capitalism? People with no talent being allowed to inject their mediocrity into the art world no holds barred, and then are praised/rewarded endlessly for it, simply because of who their parents are seems like a big problem. A problem that affects every community these nepotism babies venture into, not just photography!
@@Anyox17 Absolutely, those play a role too, though I think they influence each other and can be summed up under capitalism, due to inheritance making nepotism possible, but yeah, it's a big problem overall...
@@tifKh OMG are you serious? :O
I live in germany though...
idk what way do you think would be good to get in touch?
@@tifKh have you gotten in touch?
I'm not an expert, but Brooklyn's photos look like photos in a textbook - identifying objects, rather than bringing the art out. It's still standard.
Exactly, he's still at the abecedary level
It honestly feels like a GCSE Photography student who had an assignment over the summer holiday, completely forgot about it, and rushed to fill the pages at the last minute, just throwing in any and every photo he took in that time
It wasn't that good.
You clearly work so hard on each one of these reviews, I appreciate seeing someone taking so much care and time into what they do.
Thank you! :)
@@RachelOates 🥰
You mentioned needing to learn the rules to break them and I completely agree. There is also how to break them - it has to look intentional. In the blurry dinner party photo the center of the table being at a slight angle looks unintentional and messy. If it was straight on or more angled it would look intentional. Another thing is if you break all the “rules” then it usually looks like a bad photo. It’s like poetry in that sense. The “rules” establish a format to convey a message, breaking them emphasizes something, breaking all of them emphasizes everything and thus nothing.
Absolutely agree!! :)
Ooh also if I’m remembering correctly there’s a great book on this exact topic that I read years and years ago called something like ‘It doesn’t have to be in focus’ - I borrowed it from the library at the time but I’m going to go and try and find a copy and revisit it now :)
I watched the whole thing over two sittings. Why does that matter? I'm blind. You spoke with passion and conviction, making a topic I do not and cannot truly understand interesting and worthwhile to witness. I related to a lot of what you spoke about based on my experiences with writing both prose and original songs. It's really hard divorcing yourself from your art and viewing it through an objective creative lens.
❤
❤
Yeah, I agree. I got insanely bored when she was boasting about how well she took photos compared to Brooklyn. Be objective, it's the best way to go about these things.
@@nitamaria5507 she literally wasn't boasting though. She was quite humble and objective
@@nitamaria5507 why is it so criminal to show a comparison in a video that is about photography? And she was very objective I think the point is to show the difference in how she might not have as much access to all the things he has, but still managed to take a good picture.
I’m dying at the whole “now I have these memories to look back on for the rest of my life” crap… like, sir, go buy a photo album, stick your mediocre shots in it, and leave the rest of us OUT OF IT!
No one wants to buy your photo album, Brooklyn.
(Reminds me of family vloggers and how they try to justify exploiting their kids by saying, “we film and post on TH-cam for family memories! Not at all because we’re making money off our kids, and too lazy to get our OWN jobs! We’re making memories!”)
The thing is he was invited to do so by Penguin. He did say he was surprised, and indicated he didn't think beforehand that his photos warranted such attention. I imagine many eighteen-year-olds in his position would not have the maturity to turn down such an offer. So he did what he could do with what he had. Like most of us no doubt are doing in the various situations we find ourselves in during the course of our very imperfect lives. As regards not bothering the general public with his amateurish attempts, nobody is obliged to devote the slightest attention to his book - apart from close relatives and friends, who presumably would be roped in anyway even if it were just a private photo album.
The odds are high the publisher was banking on name recognition for sales.
As someone who worked on set for the last 10 years, he DEFINITELY had people setting his camera, and his lighting up for him on the Burberry shoot. All photographers do. Theres positions on set called photographer assistants and digital techs that set is all up for the photographer who acts as a director. But I'm sure they did everything for him for sure. This is pretty normal in the industry. Find the most couty kid and and make them a photographer.
Mirror selfies can be done interestingly, like how Vivian Maier uses reflections, shadows, and distortion in her self-portraits.
Oh absolutely! Vivian Maier’s work was also so interesting and unique!
@@RachelOates true!! It's such a shame that her work was only discovered years after her death😮💨.
I love these videos because the criticism is actually very educational and I find them very helpful! I'm only 17, but i love taking photos as a little hobby of mine, and mentioning elements of photography such as shutter speed, framing, and post-production editing in your videos is so helpful
As someone who knows nothing about photography this video was so fascinating and easy to understand.
I feel like my vacation photos will be much better after this crash course 😊
I know little and care less about photography and poetry myself, but I always watch Rachel’s videos.
And not just for Kyra cameos!
I don't even know much about photography and I feel that I learned a LOT from your explanations. Almost makes me want to pick up a camera.
... almost. Too many abandoned ADHD hyperfixations already, lol.
Literally me lol
I love finding my ADHD kin in comment sections. The struggle is real, so much passion and creativity, so little ability to master anything because I'm already onto the next fixation lol
That's where I'm at. I wouldn't mind getting a dedicated camera but knowing how I am I'd stop using it in a week. For now my iphone is enough.
As a photographer this video was amazing! Would love more of your detailed reviews of photographers! Also I got secondhand embarrassment from this book. It was as if someone stole the worst outtakes and showed it to the world, absolutely horrifying
It's important to remember that, artistically, if you're rule breaking without specific purpose, you are JUST rule breaking. This, as you mentioned, seems to be the basis of a lot of his photographs. He's sloppy and trying to pass it off as experimental.
Uhhhh, is it important to remember that??? Is it? Can't people just do whatever tf they want artistically? Maybe purposelessness is his message, maybe it's a deep meta commentary on how he feels inside - about his life and society as a whole.
Or maybe, just maybe, art is personal and not defined by condescending twats on the internet 🧐
@@anima6035 I wasn't clear, which is my mistake, but my criticism is due to the fact that he is publishing and selling his works. In the same way that you can criticize someone for selling a novel with poor grammar and little plot, I believe that there should be room to criticize people who are clearly at the very beginning of an artistic journey who are getting publishing deals for no reason other than being a rich kid. Especially of this nature, since the end user is typically required to shell out money for the product before they're able to see it for themselves, which is slightly different than a lot of mediums of visual art.
And in a poorly written novel, poor grammar and little plot isn't usually an artistic statement. It's simply bad writing when it's done without purpose. But to break rules with purpose, you have to understand the rules in the first place- this novice photographer does not.
i love your book reviews, but i really hope you do more photography reviews like this too! your point of view and your criticisms are really instructive for a novice photographer like me.
I recall you mentioning that you liked photography in a previous video, but I didn't realize just how good of a technical understanding you had until this video. You come across as an expert and I've learned a lot from this. I was surprised you were able to actually fix his photos. You're really good.
Thank you so so much!! ♥️
Rachel: "I'm not into street photography"
Rachel a few minutes later: shows gorgeous picture of an old couple in Berlin.
Realistically his age doesn't have anything to do with it, it comes down to having an eye and practice (and having knowledge of what different settings etc do). If you want to see someone young that has a profile and does great photography look at what Robert Irwin does.
Great point! His photos are fantastic and you can tell he cares so much! And yeah, he’s been given a lot of opportunities because of who his dad is but he’s worked hard and really utilised them and deserves his success!
Oops, just read your post after posting about the difference between Beckham and Irwin myself 😊
It boils down to parents teaching a modicum of values like patience,. discipline, work ethics and such.
It's seems Posh and Beck, just throw money at him, and off he goes until next time.
I would LOVE to see more videos from you about photography! I learned a lot from this video, and really appreciated how you showed your point by comparing the original photos to what you edited/similar pictures you had taken.
me too!
YES !! I agree like proper photographers but I am also curious about celebrities that consider themselves photographers , like Logan Paul with the polaroids . I don't know much about photography , are they any good ? Like with the celebrity poetry books , I study literature so I get why they are usually crappy but with photos I would LOVE your insight!!!
I was lucky to use a Leica briefly, and the thing which surprised me the most was that it did almost nothing to help. It was excellent glass, and a reasonable spot meter and rock solid mechanical shutter. However, relative to DSLRs, it made me be much more intentional or I would end up with terrible images.
I expect that this photographer started by getting "the best" camera and then receiving no constructive criticism and somehow deciding to publish a photo book before they knew how to use their camera. 😬
The Leica SL felt really good to use, but I couldn't justify owning one when the Panasonic S1/S1R exists. I would love to have one of the M Mount lenses because I just prefer manual focusing (how I learned), but I agree that it wouldn't nessisarily make me any better or worse just to have one.
There's a leica store in my area that doesn't even require all of your photos to be shot with a leica to be featured in their gallery. You just have to have use one for at least 1 photo.
@@normandy2501 I have not had a chance to try and SL, but was able to shoot a few rolls on an M6. It was lovely and if I had unlimited funds I would enjoy having one for street photography. I can't justify it at all given how unsuited it is for my primary subjects (wildlife and landscape).
Still, I think it is a great distillation of photography and would be amazing to learn on. If they are still getting mostly out of focus shots it seems like they are a bit too early to be selling a photography book. I hope they continue and put in the work to hone their vision and skill.
@Travis Law a used Fuji X-t3 would be good as well, especially for those not worried about editing right away. But like you mentioned, it can all come down to your primary use cases. They're just tools at the end of the day.
The most important thing to remember (Rachel pointed this out as well) is that the camera doesn't make you a photographer. I've been in a job where there were 2 other photographers who had a stupid amount of money invested in their gear, but you never saw the result of this investment back in their pictures.
They photographed venues and parties, but managed to typically picture those events in a way that conveyed either 2 things (and sometimes by accident both at the same time): "It wasn't fun" or "There weren't a lot of people visiting the event" due to how they used their equipment: wide-angle lenses while a standard-lens would've at least cut out a bit more of the empty environment, or in other cases, picturing people while talking to someone else and having a weird facial expression or in-between bands when people were obviously not overly joyful.
It was very, very annoying seeing them justifying their work when someone gave them constructive criticism.
@@Dutch3DMaster I think this is a fair point, and an important thing to remember. These are just tools for us to use.
My point is a bit tangential to this though, and that is that the kid picked one of the hardest to jump into cameras (with no effort to help make the tool easier to use as most cameras do these days) and from the photos I saw seemed to have trouble with the basics. I wonder if they had selected a more modern tool they may have had less trouble capturing their vision.
These are tools, and I don't understand why that book is being sold. I was personally surprised at how little the Leica helped despite being "the best" camera (instead being very sturdy and minimalist). It was lovely to use, but it seems a painful way to start.
Just wanted to say that as a photography student, the breakdown and analysis you've put into this is fabulous and really appreciated.
This must be my favourite video of yours you have ever made. Your usual well-spoken and funny commentary was great and I really enjoyed seeing your photography in this as well. Your gig photography truly is something else. I would love to see more photography content!
Thank you!!
Must be nice to be able to literally pick any career and have mom & dad sky rocket you to the top with zero experience or talent. I wonder how many genuinely talented photographers got passed up because Brooklyn's parents bumped them outta line so their lil boy's project would be a priority.
I do some photography here and there as a hobby. I haven't done it in a while, because I get stuck on the editing part. So I'm so here for videos like this one!
About the high prevelance of black and white photos: I had to take two photography class for my animation degree. Both teachers insisted that ANY photograph was improved by being done in black and white, regardless of the subject matter, a thing one said he learned from his teacher. It seems possible that Brooklyn would have received the same advice in the class he took, and is just trying, for better or worse, to implement what he was taught, without any real understanding of why being in black and white can improve SOME photos, while being detrimental to others.
I normally don't prefer to critic people's artwork since there might be reasons or stories behind it. But omg this is one piece of art that truly should not have been published. Since viewers have to question if this even is art. I judge the publishers so much for putting this out and letting people buy it.
The way you've structured your photo critiques reminds me so much of how my Dad started teaching me photography. It's a love of his, also was part of his job when his family and he, owned the small local paper. He would find ads in magazines or newspapers and ask how they got that final shot and why it worked. He's the reason i had access to decent cameras as a teen (nothing super fancy but 70's and 80's Nikon fully manual camera with a few good lenses).
And more photography videos please! I loved seeing how you process your images I hadn't thought of computer processing digital image as the same thing as spending time in the darkroom, but thank you for that comparison.
"To whine that Burberry hired an under qualified photographer for this job misses the point of what a successful advertising campaign is designed to do.
“What we’re looking at here is Burberry’s implementation of a marketing campaign driven on a popular social media platform with the express intention of getting people talking about their brand,” says James Law, a commercial photographer based in Los Angeles. “Even if Burberry had hired a top level photographer, chances are they wouldn’t have received this much press.”
Law says the trickle down from the campaign is immeasurable, and making a few photographers mad in the process is only fueling the attention. “These photographers are making this a personal attack on their craft; its not about the legacy of photography but more about creative marketing.” The fact that you talk about this, years later, proves the point Law makes: Brooklyn's 6 million Instagram followers and his name were worth more than any professional photographer. Can most people name the photographer of any other campaign? Has any other Burberry campaign received this kind of coverage? Do the folks who buy Burberry care that they hired Brooklyn?
One point of disagreement: technical excellence isn’t a requirement for artistic excellence. A person with raw imagination can create beautiful and innovative photographs without much understanding of camera mechanics or compositional rules. I remember Rachel addressed her own bias toward technique in one of her poetry critiques. Technique is important, but over-emphasizing it suffocates beginners. Technique is a tool, not an end unto itself. There are many “photographers” who are proficient technically, but couldn’t create an interesting photograph to save their life.
That said, I’m not defending Brooklyn’s “work” in the least. I feel bad for him and this embarrassing book. His uber rich parents couldn’t be bothered to send him to photography classes where he could hone his potential into actual skills. There’s an artist/craftsperson inside him, just like there is in everyone, craving expression and growth. But he was coddled and that spark of potential neglected. This happens so much with the rich and the upper middle-class. Wasted resources on wasted potential. There’s at least half a million disadvantaged kids his age with ten times the creativity who could have made an amazing photo book. Society is cruel.
Excellent points you wrote there.
I agree with the point you are making, but we are not talking technical excellence but technical adequacy. The level of a painter knowing that the wet hairy bit of the brush goes on the canvas.
I'm joining in - please make more videos/reviews about photography! I know absolutely nothing about the theory behind it and it's super interesting to learn about.
Great review!
Re: the elephant photo.
I think using a flash to light the elephant would be a bad idea not because it would look weird, but because a sudden bright flashing light has the potential to startle the elephant. And, even though the photo appears to be of a baby, you still probably won't want even a baby elephant to be panicking while you're standing right next to it.
Whoever arranged this book opportunity for a completely inexperienced 18 yo did him a great disservice. Whoever got him the shoot at Burberry, did him a great disservice. Even if the young man has an eye, we will never know it because he has been not only allowed to publish his work, but he’s been encouraged to expose his lack of skill, and lack of experience, and a lack of a deep body of work to curate a decent book out of. He needs to shoot lots of images over a long period of time (a decade or two at least) and quit taking pictures of himself as the subject. He needs to study the history of photography, gather inspirations and favorite photographers and favorite works by those photographers. Study the science of color and light and optics. And all the while keep shooting and shooting and putting your images up for critique (not on the internet or any intensely public forum). I can’t believe that when this book approached publication, nobody from the Beckham organization said “whoa, hold up until we get with Brooklyn and his folks and edit this a bit better.”. Instead, he(Brooklyn) was rather fed to lions of internet publishing critics.
I really liked this video, Its really interesting hearing you talk about photography, especially since its something i like but i don't know how to take a good photo, but its cool to hear what makes a good/ bad photo. I do appreciate good photography more now.
This reminded me of when Seventeen, a kpop group, did a self-produced magazine. I recommend looking at it, not for like a video, but its cool seeing someone passionate about photography get the chance to show it (and i liked the photos but im not rlly a discerning eye, so i want ur opinion lmao). I think celebrities doing photography is interesting to me because it photography as a media feels less pretentious imo
Can't wait until u release a photobook much love
I love photography so please please please make a beginner photography course! I know you say you're not an expert, but you spark so much passion and you'd motivate me so much to finally start too. Also, I absolutely love listening to you.
Great pics, really :)
Agreed
That black & white photo of a landscape with the fence getting in the way at first made me think it was taken on some prison grounds.
Also his style reminds me of Gabbie Hanna. I’m not entirely sure why.
I'm not at all a photographer, but I feel like between just being around my mum who does photography as a hobby and having taken one mandatory 2-week photography course in art school I could get better photos than 50% of Brooklyn's are with just my phone and some light editing :'D The wonky horizons and the sheer number of mirror selfies were driving me insane!
For some reason TH-cam stopped putting Rachel's videos in my recommended and I didn't realized I'd missed like 8 new videos. :c Time to binge-listen at work!
As someone vaguely interested in photography but little knowledge about it, I loved the depth and clarity of this video. I adore your artistic insights.
I did a photography course when I was in high school and found this far more informative than that whole course! So well-explained.
I took two photography courses in high school and learned more from you and this video than those classes. I remembered a lot of the terms but you have such a wonderful way of explaining and showing how to critique.
The point you make about this being an expensive, glorified family photo album is the best summary I've seen! That, and the point about not being the correct audience because I wonder if it even has one in mind. Which leads me to ask - who is the audience? I doubt Brooklyn Beckham understands that in a literary context - or really any context - but the fact that someone green lighted this is absolutely laughable when you consider how many smaller creators struggle to get their art out there without the benefits of nepotism. Great video!
PLEASE review more photography books!! Also little shorts with photography tips and foundations explained would be rad as hell!! I haven't picked up anything other than a phone camera since I was 15 but gosh I loved it then and photography still inspires me so much to this day. Especially landscape and portrait work 🤗
I really appreciate these videos where you go through and break down all the decisions a creator made with their work and why it works or doesn't work. I'm always entranced by your wealth of knowledge and I feel like I learn so much about photography and poetry through these videos!!! And I always love seeing your original work!!! Everything is fantastic but I especially love your gig photos!! You always inspire me and get me excited to try to create stuff on my own!
Thank you so much! Comments like this mean so much to me 🥰🥰🥰
Hi, coming to your channel because of Girl Defined content and staying for the photography knowledge. That's being said, all your contents are awesome and I love watching your videos. However the knowledge you share in this video is hugely helpful, I had tons of photos I don't know how to deal with and thanks to your advice, I started to choose the best ones instead of just deleting the bad ones, and it really helps, I can see which one stands out the most and can decide easier. Moreover, I started to pay close attention to the composition, not to let the photos be wonky and horizon shifting weird. Already followed your patreon as well and I hope you will make more videos about photography in the future. Once again, thank you and have a nice day ❤
Thank you so much!! I’m so happy I can help so much! ❤️
I don’t know much about photography or art in general, I know about shutter speed and aperture and that’s about it and I heard about thirds and lines once or twice and I feel I learned so much from this video. And I really enjoyed it. I found myself open my phone’s camera roll to look at some of my pics with a critical eye 😀
And now I almost feel bad for nepotism kids. Imagine having a hobby and people start praising you and offer you to publish your stuff and make you think you’re actually good at it, and at some point you realize they just wanted to make money with your name. I’d find it hard to believe anyone who told me I’m good at something at some point.
So I guess I should be grateful to be a nobody. No one gets anything out of telling me my writing is good, so they don’t. And knowing I’m not good at stuff is actually pretty relieving. No pressure, no responsibility and I won’t disappoint anyone who expects me to do well 😁
Me, not knowing anything about photography: Ah yes, how astute. Quite analysis. Such insightful critique. *thoughtfully strokes beard*
For real though, it’s always impressive how you hold my attention in these videos on a subject I have literally no interest in, due to your obvious passion and knowledge. 🥰
I wish that I had you as a teacher when I was taking photography classes. The teachers didn’t help me at all. But I still loved being in the dark room and developing photos. It was calming even though my pictures were crap.
Photography used to be my nightmare while I was doing my bachelor's in Journalism. My teacher was an absolute douchebag, and I remember being terrified of going to class, even though photography interested me. This video brings me both good and bad memories, lol - learning photography basics was fun, and your remarks on this video even reminded me of some things. You would make a great teacher, Rachel! As always, your input is so valuable, and we, as an audience, always learn something from you. So thank you for posting!
So excited to get your book! I could listen to you talk about photography for hours, it's so fascinating to finally learn the words to express why I like or dislike an image!
As someone with tons of enthusiasm and creativity but an inability to master anything (untreated adult ADHD, NHS waiting list of two years, wooyeah) I appreciate your videos so much! I learn a ton and it's a joy to hear someone talk with such passion and detail about a subject they understand and care deeply about 💖💖
Thank you for taking such vacuous, self-indulgent subject material and turning it into a chance to learn something interesting. I knew nothing about photography before this.
hey Rachel, i love love love this video! I learned so much watching you explaining what's going on in the photographs and showing counter examples. I'd love more of these videos!
Could you imagine maybe doing this kind of video with photographs taken by the community? There are some artist youtubers who do that with paintings/drawings from their fans (namely samdoesarts) - i think it's always a great opportunity to learn for everyone
best wishes
That quote by Brooklyn "promoting" the book is unintentionally pretty brutal, actually. I just couldn't help paraphrasing it ever so slightly to "a book only the author's mother could love" (ok, ok, parents... both parents)
I would love to see more videos about photography from you and I think this format is great. Maybe you could also review some Instagram profiles of people?
I completely love your artistic teardowns. The quality you bring is fantastic!
EDIT: I think the photographer Rachel was taking about that used the Lego camera but still took amazing photos is Chase Jarvis (a pretty well-established photographer and director who also seems to be a pretty cool/genuinely nice guy overall). At the very least, he's taken photos/footage or skateboarders before, so it might be him she was talking about. There's a video (from a series like the one Rachel mentioned) on youtube by DigitalRev TV that shows him taking amazing photos with a Lego Camera for those who're interested. :)
I had to pause the video to clean up my desk and get some food. When I came back after preparing for the long-haul I noticed I'd paused it while the book reviews for the back of the book were still on the screen. So, I took the time to read them for funsies and, oml, the CACKLE I let out after reading the one from Daily News and immediately realising the "Brooklyn" they mentioned was the photographer, NOT the city. Beautiful.
I disagree that whoever wrote the description ought to be fired. That space is supposed to tell you the quality of the product, and they certainly fulfilled that function 😂
I really hope to see more photography critique type videos like this in the future! This was an unexpected treat!
Wow, the title of this video really undersells its content. I almost skipped by it because its very long and I dont give a toss about this Beckham kid. Its actually a really indepth and educational look at photography as a craft using one of my favourite techniques...pointing out when and exactly how someone has done it poorly. Well done.
I loved this video so much, I can't wait for more videos about photography. I tried photography a few times, and while I was using my mums camera (im not sure what exactly it is but i know its a pretty good camera), and i sucked at it so hard, but im starting to think that i probably just had no idea what I was doing. Every now and then i get that spark again and I want to take more photos, videos like this are so informative and encouraging!!
I would absolutely love to see more videos about photography from you. I’ve been wanting to get back into it and this video really gave me some motivation!
Really loved your comment about editing in vs editing out. I'm an illustrator and I've definitely noticed the difference in these two practices within artist's portfolios!
Already crying again at the book's cover........ Rachel, I can't do this today. 💀
I picked up a couple of tips from you, especially the edit in not edit out one as well as a few other ones as I'm an amateur who started out with a 3.2 mp Polaroid 18 years ago and got my first DSLR (Sony A33 twin lens) in 2011. Now use a Canon 1500D which I got second hand and love some landscape but more into birds and wildlife and Macro even though my best macro and super macro were with an Olympus 10mp point and shoot I had years ago. Have a thing for Prime Lens so have a 400mm 5.6 L I use for the birds I got a month ago after wanting one for about 4 years and of course the nifty 50.
That big painting behind you ... was it done by you? I don't know anything about art but that painting actually drew my attention a lot in the video.
The painting was actually done by a wonderful fan of mine and very talented artist called Bart London - he goes by @snapschors on Instagram :)
@@RachelOates Thanks for the reply. :) Very appreciated. :D
Laughing at photos and learning at the same time. Absolute quality content on youtube!
Damn hearing you talk about photographs makes me inspired! Time to pick up my camera again and try all the different things with it
This is a perfect chance for you to show photobooks or similar works from your favorite photographers!✨
MORE VIDS ON PHOTOGRAPHY! I'd also love to see a blog of you going out to take pictures and then see what you do in post and the result with your own commentary
i like taking pictures a lot. all super casual on my iphone, i dont know much about photography (i did some at camp once with developing and all that but i was like 12). i loved hearing you talk so clearly about everything- all the aspects i mean.
when you talked about lining things up with the dinner photo being wonky, that resonated a lot with me. sometimes i have a picture that i want to take so bad but the lines are just all off. if i make it aligned in any way itll just end up feeling slanted and it can be so frustrating. i love a good parallel moment. or orthogonal or whatever, lines are just so fun!
i didnt capatalize or do good grammar hahaha im sorry im tired and i just painted my nails
youre great keep doing the do!!
Holy shit you out here calmly, methodically, and succintly unpacked his special brand of Nepobaby-based Mediocrity 💀💀💀
Subbed!!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥
I very much agree with what you said about learning basics even on crappy equipment. I started photography on my Nokia when I was 13 because I couldn't afford a camera until 5 years later. Getting my camera felt like unleashing so much potential as I had learned so much about the content of what makes a photo interesting way before the quality of the capture. I definitely felt a huge learning curve as I had no idea how to use it in the beginning, but my photos would come out good because I had developed my 'eye' way before.
Perfect timing for this video! I just found my old DSLR camera and was thinking about starting to use it again. :)
I really enjoyed the comparisons made between your work and Brooklyn's! I kinda wish you'd added even more examples of professional work to illustrate your statements since these types of videos can really benefit from that!! What I loved most about your poetry reviews were the comparisons with poems you actually loved or viewed as meaningful. Either way I learned so much from this video and it definitely helped me see my work in a different light so tysm :)
I loved this, watched it with my photographer father and had a blast! As a regular watcher of your videos and longtime subscriber, I'd love to see more like this and more photography content 😊
legitimately, the feet/shoe picture is like the one I took at 13 years old when I first got Instagram. I will admit to having taken a few since, like maybe five, but that's diary pictures, I wouldn't dream about publishing them in a book, and if I did it would be in a nightmare.
Also wanted to say thank you for sharing that photography advise about editing in not out, I definitely needed to hear that. I try to do that but I absolutely need to be more brutal, so I'm going to try and keep that in mind for the future!
If I saw the dinner photo without any context whatsoever, I would be impressed with the artist's ability to capture such hopeless and dark emotions in a setting that's supposed to be pleasant. If you divorce the image from Brooklyn's intention, it's actually really impactful - gray, empty, unfocused, almost as if viewed through teary eyes. It's a dinner you want to just end, a dinner where you feel lonely sitting at the end of the table. But you're telling me this is supposed to be nothing more than a family dinner photo with no darker undertones? This is actually hilarious.
Great video as always, please do more on photography in the future! I had an interest in photography as a teenager, and seeing Brooklyn's camera mirror selfies brought memories of me holding my Canon 500D (which I still have) to my bedroom mirror and taking an almost identical photo in 2011. Thankfully my photos, while still amateur, are much better now lol.
Rachel I love ur vids but I feel like more than often they don't justify their lengths. Like ur section on ur photography background went way off topic and could have been noticably trimmed. Same with a lot of sections in this video. If ur gonna make a long video then it should be dense with content and info imo but these go off in tangents..and I feel like ur videos would be a lott more entertaining and watchable if u hired an editor than knows how to trim them down while keeping all the good parts in
I actually love your last Coney island photo the most. It's chaotic and busy with modern life and light.
He has the financial privilege to indulge himself in different interests of the moment. Without training though it’s more difficult to evolve. I sat down for a law lecture earlier this fall, and my professor said ”the law book is expensive and you will have to know how to find your way in it, BUT I know that most students have a tough time financially, so I would like to suggest that you get together in groups and share a book for now which will give you some time to save up for one to the exam”. Then they went on about longing for us to start finding our way in the law book because ”that moment is magical when you find the key and manage to push open the door of law”. By having the money to skip a bunch of steps the results will align with that. You can buy a super expensive camera and you can travel to these amazing places and take photographs of stunning animals, but when the one holding the camera had no crappy analog camera for about 100- 200$ and straight away went for the 15k camera, the result will not appear- instead it will look clumsy and with no soul or attachment for the viewer to find. It simply stops at someone who aspired to do great things. Beckham jr. is skipping the steps but wosh to have the same amazing results as the photographers’ photographs that inspired him to pick up the camera, but only sifference is they had proper training and worked their way up.
I’m no photographer, but if I would take a photo of an elephant I would want it to come out in a way you see the structure and life of this amazing animal, by using a macro lens perhaps and focus it on the elephant’s eye, the tail or a nail. We have all seen the landscape skin of anelephsnt or water coming out of the trunk. Photography is not just aiming the lens at something you find beautiful and pushing a button, it’s more about knowing how to work the craft and manage to evoke emotions and to tell a story through the photographs. You can’t cheat when you do art which is very much evident wheb looking at the photographs presented in his book.
I will give him props for trying though and for coming off as a sweet guy who is humble even though he moves in a non humble way.
Ps. 0:44 Bless him! *always* shake above the bar and not down there🙈💕
Rachel needs to teach photography on Skillshare. :-)
I learned a lot from this (and subtly tucked away all the overexposed polaroids with crooked horizons i’ve taken during my semester abroad so far….)! Would be super excited to see more photography videos from you.
Hahaha noooo, it’s hard on Polaroids and they’re wonderful to keep as memories of something special! You enjoy them! 😊
Okay, so... the kid's not a talented photographer and yes, his celebrity parents have no doubt helped him get further than perhaps he would have otherwise. Also, yes, nepotism can be frustrating when you watch it happen in real time. Nevertheless, I've sucked on lemons that were less bitter than this critique. Of all the targets to go after for being a hack and you pick.... Brooklyn Beckham?? Check out Yoko Ono's Conceptual Photography. You'll have a field day.
Loved this video. I enjoyed the well-founded but snarky criticism, but also I learned a lot! I would love get more photography videos from Rachel.
Also I laughed so hard reading Brooklyn's captions, at first I thought they were memes
I loved this review. While I did appreciate your explanations about what makes good/bad poetry, I’m just not into poetry. But I like photography a lot more! I’d love more reviews like this one.