Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing

What focal length lens accurately captures what we see?  That seems to be one of the most asked questions in photography forums lately.  And you know what?  After reading this book, you will come away understanding at least two clear truths.  First, no camera lens matches the human eye’s take on the world.  Second, other than trying to replicate a similar perspective, a lens by itself will never capture images the way we see them.  That’s because the lens in our eye is just a small portion of our overall visual system.  And what a truly complex, amazing, and fascinating system it is!  That’s what you’ll learn in this book, Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing.

Margaret Livingstone, Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, answers many questions about our visual system in this highly readable, groundbreaking volume.  I list below just a few that caught my attention as I read the book.  You’ll discover that the answers depend ultimately on the cells in our eyes and our brains.

• Why do cats’ eyes glow so brightly in the dark when illuminated?
• How are our eyes able to distinguish millions of colors with only three cone types?
• Why are purple objects uncommon in nature?
• Do you see red as I see red?
• What distinct roles do color and luminance play in vision?
• Why are our eyes more sensitive to red light?
• Why does light intensity change the perceived color of objects?
• How are our eyes deceived by certain optical illusions?
• Are black and white colors?
• What mechanism permits our eyes to see objects as constant in color despite wide variations in the color of the illuminant?
• What are the major perspective cues?
• Why is contrast important to how we see?
• How does our visual system use color and luminance?
• What causes you to see black dots in the following illusion where none really exist?

Books Chapters

• “Fiat Lux: Let There Be Light”
• “The Eye and Color Vision”
• “Luminance and Night Vision”
• “The First Stages of Processing Color and Luminance: Where and What”
• “Acuity and Spatial Resolution: Central and Peripheral Vision”
• “The Next Level of Color Processing: Surround Effects”
• “From 3-D to 2-D: Perspective”
• “From 3-D to 2-D: Shading and Chiaroscuro”
• “From 3-D to 2-D: Stereopsis”
• “Illusions of Motion”
• “Color Mixing and Color Resolution”
• “Television, Movies, and Computer Graphics”

My Opinion

How would you like to alter your concept of vision completely and take a quantum leap forward in understanding how we see?  You can do that by reading Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing.  I can think of no other non-photography book that will do this.

Though anyone could benefit from this book, I’d suggest beginners hold off.  It’s a much better fit for advanced photographers and a very good fit for anyone with a science background, or at least, with strong right-brain tendencies.  The book does get a bit technical at times, but it’s still aimed at the general populace, particularly those interested in the arts.

The bottom line: will it make you a better photographer?  At a minimum, it has the potential of making you more knowledgeable, and knowledge is an indispensable asset for any photographer.

Finally, a line from one of William Blake’s works may best describe what you’ll learn from this book: “I see through the eyes, not with them.”

Book Reviews

Customer reviews on Amazon can sometimes, but not always, be a good indicator of a book’s quality. As of July 11, 2011, there were 18 customer reviews on Amazon: 16 gave the book a 5-star rating, and 2 gave it a 4-star rating.

Book Details

Title: Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing

Publisher: Abrams

Author: Margaret S. Livingstone

ISBN-13: 978-0810995543

Length: 208 pages

Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.1 x 0.8 inches

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

Format: Paperback