A MANUAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. . . . .
The Complete Photographer. By R. Child Bayley. (Methuen and Co. 108. 6d. net.)—Mr. Bayley, whose editorial. work on Photography has been so Inilpful to many who, like himself, have "come under the spell Of the camera," has written a very excellent treatise on photography. Less technical than such a work as the well-known manual of Sir William Abney, it gill contains all the instruction that the emote*. 'will, find necessary ih order to make himself an expert in any branch of photography. Mr. Bayley writes more as an artist than as a min of Science,- and 'disclaim's, poijipetifia with the More Purely toohnical.works on the Subject'. -" Too many," as he rightly says, "have stuck hopelessly amen prescriptions, going from one to the other in the hope of finding some magic *fluid that shall die. solVe all the obstacles in their path, not realising that it is not the formula but its application that is at fault. It is their application to photography that' has formed my topic." We should expect that any intelligent person who was presented with this book, and with a modest equipment of apparatus, could perfect himself in the art and practice of photography, so far at least as instruction can make that possible, for there is, as in other arts, a certain modicum of aptitude and temperament necessary for entire success. Photography, in the general sense of the word, is indeed an art, though, of course, this does not apply to its uses as the handmaid of science, where only fidelity and skill of manipulation are required. It is as an art that Mr. Bayley prefers to deal with his fascinating hobby, and his book should meet a widely felt want in this respect. It is illustrated with a large number of admirable specimens of the photo- grapher's art, which enforce by example the precepts of the author.
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