The lives of the great photographers can be an inspiration to even the lowliest amateur snap shooter. People have not just dedicated their existence to photography, but have died for it. I’m not suggesting that’s a good idea, but when you know what people have gone through to put their hearts and souls on film it can change your relationship with your camera.

I am suggesting, however, that reading a biography of a legendary photographer is a good idea. Here are four that I’ve read and they’re all wonderful. I can practically guarantee that at some point in the course of reading any of these books, you’re going to want to grab your camera and go take a picture.

I’m old enough to remember the great nature photographer Ansel Adams on TV making Grape Nuts commercials. He was a cuddly, bear of man with a Santa Claus beard, but those were the late years. As a young man he was a wild mountain man of an artist and he changed the way people photograph the outdoors forever. Mary Street Alinder’s Ansel Adams is wonderful. I haven’t looked at an Ansel Adam’s picture since I read the book years ago and not thought about this very real portrait of one of the world’s greatest photographers.

Blood and Champagne, Alex Kershaw’s biography of our greatest war photographer, Robert Capa, is a bigger than life look at a movie star-handsome, dashing, daring man walking hand in hand with death until in finally came to end when he was the first photographer killed in Vietnam in 1954. It’s an absolutely fascinating story.

Diane Arbus was a sensitive woman who began her career as a photographer shooting schlocky fashion layouts for women’s magazines and finished it as an incredibly perceptive artist documenting lives at the fringe of society. It’s a tragic story that has inspired millions of photographers world wide. Diane Arbus by Patricia Bosworth puts the story in perspective and breaks your heart.

Just Kids by the rock singer Patti Smith tells the story of her relationship with the photographer Robert Maplethorpe. It’s incredibly well-written and actually won the National Book Award. Amazing. This could very well be the best-written of the four books I’ve recommended here.

Even if you’re not interested in the art side of photography, these are all fascinating stories of fascinating people and you can’t go wrong getting lost in their lives and pictures.

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