Within the Frame: David duChemin’s new book

A friend of mine has a book coming out and I want to tell you about it but I’m conscious of not wanting it to appear like I’m just plugging a mate’s book as a favour. The truth is that I might consider doing that for a good friend but this is different. I’m telling you about this book not only because David duChemin is a good friend but because I truly believe that his is a book of consequence, a book that actually matters.

I thought about introducing the book with a few jokey tales. I thought perhaps I’d entertain you with my recollections of how excited David was a year ago when he first got the book deal. Child. Sweet shop. You get the picture. I thought you might enjoy hearing how I’ve been fortunate to see the book grow from David’s original seed of an idea to the chunky, important tome that’s about to hit bookshops near you. I thought that maybe I should tell you about how enthusiastic the guy has been every time I’ve had a chance to catch up with him in the last twelve months and of how being able to write this book seems to have given him the room and space to really let his passion, his vision, flow.

But then, in a rare moment of clarity, I realised that anything I say is going to be largely redundant. The guy’s written a book for Pete’s sake. You can see for yourself. His publishers have released a sample PDF, which you can download for free HERE. You can see for yourself how darn good it is. But before you do, let me tell you briefly why I think this is an important book, a book that matters. Indulge me for a few moments more as the PDF downloads and then I’ll let you get on to the main event.

I first came across David’s work, oh, I don’t know, a couple of years ago I guess. Like photographers sometimes will, I’d been surfing the net, looking for inspiration, checking out the competition. So, I’m searching and searching and then I come to a web site that stops me in my tracks. It’s stylish, apparently effortless and, more worryingly, contains images from Nepal that have me booking seats on the very next flight to KTM. How dare somebody take such beautiful images. If you’re not already familiar with his portfolio, check out David’s web site and especially the ‘Nepal’ gallery.

I was moved to post a blog entry about his site, some faint praise no doubt, sadly now lost in the mists of my many web site re-designs. A comment soon appeared from the man himself, thanking me for the plug and saying that he had my web site bookmarked. Yikes! He suggested that we keep in touch, both pro photographers playing in an often confusing and curious game. Perhaps we’d benefit from the mutual support. How right he was.

I catch up with David when he’s free and enjoyed sharing a cigar and a pot of tea with him and Matt Brandon in Bangkok recently. Actually, we each had our own cigars, just to dispel that troubling mental image that I just conjured up. David’s always tremendously generous with his time and always willing to share ideas. There’s something about the man that makes him want to communicate. What better way then? A book where he takes you behind the scenes in Cuba, India, Nepal, Ethiopia, Vietnam and beyond. Not only does he share his images but he tells you how, and more importantly, why, he took them.

If, like me, you’ve ever stood in front of a shelf of books in the Photography section of your local bookstore, frustrated by the paucity of books with any real substance, then you’ll be delighted by ‘Within The Frame’. This isn’t one of those books churned out by mediocre talents who rush to declare that they’ve “published thirty-five books in three years” and don’t seem to realise that it’s quality and not quantity that we desire. If you’ve had enough of looking at cheesy, obvious travel shots in books where the author thinks that telling you to get up in time for sunrise is some kind of revelation – but who never seems to have managed to do so themselves – then you’ll love David’s engaging style and you’ll go all soppy when you see the charmingly effervescent frames he’s captured.

OK, I’ll stop there for fear of tipping all the way into panting sycophancy and losing any remaining credibility. David duChemin is a friend and I heartily recommend his book. But not because he’s a friend, simply because I know that it will be one of the best books about photography that you’ll ever own.

Within the Frame by David duChemin: Sample Chapter

Within The Frame by David duChemin on Amazon.co.uk

Posted on Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 12:00 pm. Filed under: Photographers Tags: david duchemin RSS 2.0 feed.