Why You Like This Photo: The Science of Perception
by brian dilg
ilex press
160 pages
$14.99
opgusa.com

If you never thought much about “the science of perception,” don’t feel left out—most of us are largely clueless about this discipline, or more correctly, combination of disciplines. 

Brian Dilg’s recently released Why You Like This Photo: The Science of Perception takes a precise, very readable look at the ways physics, camera technology and human sensory mechanisms interact. It’s not aimed at the scientific community but rather another audience—you and me, the people who, for commerce or passion or both, take photography a lot more seriously than everyone else.  

As a specialized book-buying group, we’re not likely to dwell on ideas like the synergy between composition and cognitive neuroscience, or depth-of-field and evolutionary biology. Still, as this gem of a book lays out for us, such high-sounding interactions are the actual base-level underpinnings of our process. They’re fascinating and eye-opening, and, though Dilg introduces such ideas in a palatable conversational tone, this book is not “Bill Nye the Science Guy Talks Photography.” It’s a cerebral exercise, cover to cover, and well worth the mental effort. With short, modular chapters, the book covers a huge range of information, all broken down into three principal categories: 

• How We See, which explains the differences and the equivalencies between the cold record-keeping job of the camera and the nuanced reality of human vision and emotion. 

• How We Notice, which gets a little closer to the book’s title by unpacking the principles of visual attraction.

• How We Think, a series of two-page takes on the role of codes and encrypted details in photographs. Though he doesn’t use the term “sense memory” specifically, Dilg deals with this faculty as a key to how we process these codes. It’s a critical component to so many images, but rarely discussed as lucidly as with this author. 

This relatively tiny book covers enormous ground, with its lively design and pacing being a big part of its appeal. Spreads like the ones shown here, that juxtapose provocative images from a multi-generational roster of great photographers, make up a sort of running conversation throughout the book—between what we see and how we see, and the ways we use the camera to put them together.

Related: A Complete Guide to Color-Effect Gels in Portrait Photography

Jack Davison’s New Book of Photographs

Photo Book Review: POSE! 1,000 Poses for Photographers and Models