Printed book, softcover. Collected Essays and Articles 1984-2000. Mike Johnston has published more than 100 articles about photography in magazines in the U.S. and England. He currently writes for BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY and CAMERA ARTS magazines, and his popular column "The Sunday Morning Photographer" appears on the web on The Luminous Landscape, Steve's Digicams, and Photo.Net, and is translated into Polish, Hungarian, Portuguese, and Greek. In the past he was East Coast Editor of CAMERA & DARKROOM and Editor-in-Chief of PHOTO TECHNIQUES. THE EMPIRICAL PHOTOGRAPHER is a collection of the best of his critical articles and essays. 166 pages.
"Empirical Photographer" I got it, thanks Mike. Four years almost to the day, since I ordered it at pre-publication pricing, but who's counting. As expected, worth the wait (in gold). I'm a fan and am glad this is here. It is interesting (to me) to read Mike's style of writing for the magazines and compare to his writing now on the blog. I'm thinking that successful blog writing is very different from magazine writing. The blog piece is much more economical with its prose than magazine style writing. Could be the medium, could be that I develop a shorter attention span in front of the monitor. Bottom line: highly recommended bedtime reading.
"Comment on Mike Johnston's publishing" [UPDATE-2]:I'm happy to report that Mike Johnston has done everything he can to make things right. After the problems with the original order fulfillment were brought to his attention on his new blog (and these date back quite some time), he was good to his word and his book arrived in Australia within the week. Well done Mike. I have been enjoying your writings piece-by-piece, and they remind me of why I started reading your work in the first place. Top effort.[UPDATE 1]: After I posted this note, I also posted a note to the above-mentioned blog. Mike quickly replied that he would send me his book if I e-mailed him my mailing address. I notice that he has since posted a note on his blog for Wednesday 16 May 2007 as follows: ..."If you paid for but have never received a copy of The Empirical Photographer, please contact me by leaving a comment that starts "NOT FOR POSTING." But you must leave your email address in the... More > comment or I won't have any way to get in touch with you. Please don't forget to include your email address."Sounds like he is trying to do the right thing. I am now hopeful that Mike will follow through - and regain a reader![ORIGINAL POST:]Mike Johnston has disappointed me too.The much-anticipated book was never delivered, and "The 37th Frame" newsletter folded shortly after I subscribed to that as well. In May 2005 (after many delays) he said he'd be ordering the first bulk printing from Lulu to fill back orders, but nothing ever happened. Such a pity because I really enjoyed (past-tense) Mike's writing. I got the impression that he had some personal/health challenges around that time, so I can understand that he might have had some trouble fulfilling his promises. I now see he has re-appeared on the internet with a blog: http://theonlinephotographer.blogspot.com/ This would be no big deal, except for his posting a couple of days ago: "Monday, May 14, 2007 - Help Me Decide What Book to Write". You've got to be kidding me. It doesn't matter what you write about if you can't deliver it.*.Peter Phillips< Less
I too was one of those who pre-ordered and had not received a copy of the book. Having had friends self-publish I was aware of the difficulties of the process and, quite frankly, had written it off. However, following the previously mentioned blog post (see other reviews), Mike delivered the book to me very quickly and I was glad to receive it. Kudos to him for that. If you have not received your book, do contact him via his website.
"Did Get My Pre-Ordered Copy--Great Book" Mike will send you a copy if you've paid for it and he never sent one. Like several other posters, I paid for this book a few years ago and never received it. Sometime later I emailed Mike and he said he was still working out the publishing details but he did send me the PDF. I had given up on ever getting until I saw Mike's blog http://theonlinephotographer.blogspot.com/2007/05/publisher-as-casino.html entry. He asked people who had paid for but not received the book to email him. I did so and he mailed a signed copy the next business day. I really enjoyed the book--anyone who likes his online posts will find the book worthwhile. I would buy another book from this author! I suspect Mike, if he hasn't already, could tell a pretty good story his book self-publishing experience. I think his mistake was not keeping people updated with the book's progress. To his credit he always responded quickly to my emails.
"My copy of the Empirical Photographer" I bitched about not receiving my copy of The Empirical Photographer and lo! Mike emailed me in a flash — seemed my order got lost in some shuffle way back when (my bad karma?) Shortly thereafter I received my copy of The Empirical Photographer via mail to Europe. I have enjoyed the book. Contrary to Mike's advice at the beginning to take it in random bits, I "inhaled" it in a few sittings but keep going back to read chapters again and again. This is bedside reading for me and sits atop my copy of "Talking Photography" by Frank Riper. The read was well worth the wait.
