Photographs of Hands

By Richard Seah

31 Dec 2008

The challenge in producing a book on Photographs of Hands is to present both quality and quantity.

"Too many photographs of hands can be boring," my friend had warned and I readily agreed.

After all, I have often enough been bored by too many photographs of landscapes, flowers, architecture, portraits, nudes, cute babies, etc etc. There are hundreds and thousands of books on these subjects.

Yet there is, as far as I know, only ONE existing book on the subject of hands.

This is Speaking with Hands published by Henry Mendelssohn Buhl, a photographer, philanthropist and community activist who has built up a sizeable collection of photographs of hands by various photographic artists.

So my new book could well be only the world's second book of photographs of hands. And the first by a single artist!

The purpose of this book demands a good quantity of images. The message that I wish to put out is that it is possible to create good photographs of hands in just about any situation. I want to tell the world of photography that, hey, you have neglected this fascinating subject for far too long.

So I need to present a good number of images, without compromising on quality.

This book has been on my mind for years. Finally, I felt ready to put it together.

Without setting any target on numbers, I set out to put the book together just before Christmas. In the end, I came up with a selection of 87 of my best - and most representative - photographs of hands.

The book is divided into five sections.

Hands in prayer, the main section, has the most images - 28. This reflects my personal interest in what I call "spiritual photography" that captures a person's most intimate moments with God, the Universe and the inner self.

Hands at work has nine images - not a lot as I don't have many opportunities to photograph people while they are working.

A show of hands feature hands in entertainment and the arts - this is a new and fast growing area of photography for me and this section has 21 images.

Hand-made features man-made objects like statues and mannequins. This has 11 images.

The final section is titled Just hands - not doing anything in particular. 17 images here.

Plus, there is another image on my acknowledgements page, making 87 altogether.

Here's a sampling of images from my new book, Photographs of Hands.

The book is currently available as an e-bookand a print-on-demand book at Blurb.com.

It will shortly also be available as a print-on-demand book at Blurb.com.

My wish, of course, is to have this published as a regular book. If you can help me achieve this wish in any way - and help make this book the success that it deserves to be - bless you, please contact me.

It is coming to 1 am, January 1 2009 in Singapore as I am about to finish writing this.

I wish one and all a very Happy, Successful and Blessed New Year.

On guard

Sign language

Under the actor's nose!

Share the fire

Models un-modelling #3

The didgeridoo artiste #5

Bali's Ramayana - "supporting actress" #2

Hand prints

hands at rest

Green Hands

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16 responses

Theerapong Bhothirungsi gave props (31 Dec 2008):
Yeah, it should be difficult to make every picture of hand interesting, but you can... Happy New Year 2009
francesco scipioni gave props (31 Dec 2008):
very beautiful job!! and thanks again. my vote
Thomas Brauer said (1 Jan 2009):
Nice work Richard. Ambitious, but not beyond you. Have you tried doing a book before?
Richard Seah said (1 Jan 2009):
Thanks Thomas, for the great compliment. I had started several books before - photography as well as written works - but never finished them. Photographs of hands is the first time I actually COMPLETED a book to the point where it is ready for distribution electronically as well as via print on demand. But it has yet to become a "regular" printed book.
Dan Chang said (1 Jan 2009):
A good starting point. It can open up other possible opportunities and ventures....good luck!
Marva Fonseca (Deleted) gave props (8 Jan 2009):
This is such a beautiful set! I can't wait for the book to come out!
Tina Basco gave props (5 Feb 2009):
wow how inspiring
Rey mos gave props (25 May 2009):
very impressive style of showcasing the hands!
Gary Fudge (Deleted) gave props (27 May 2009):
A tremendous and interesting project.
♥ Cairenn ♥ said (17 Jun 2009):
!!!Congrats Richard!!!
PINAKI SARKAR gave props (28 Jun 2009):
brilliant idea. great series. definitely great work. I voted
Tania Losada gave props (9 Jul 2009):
Genial punto de vista! :D
Andrey Danilov gave props (10 Jul 2009):
handcrafted masterpiece
Jason Sipus gave props (6 Nov 2009):
You captured great aspects of the hands! Well Done!
rachelrobichaux gave props (24 May 2010):
cool story!
Yi gave props (11 Oct 2011):
great!congratulations!