I have no sympathy for ultra-rich 18yo boys, but I'm also not mad at him for being a terrible photographer. I am, however, LIVID at the crass, commercial opportunism of Penguin for putting out what they surely know is garbage instead of actually taking a risk and supporting photographers who are putting their whole heart and soul into their work, whose life would be changed by this opportunity.

It's a little hilarious how Brooklyn Beckham has all this nepotism privelege but can't do anything well enough to take advantage of it

I’m no photographer but the line “this feels like a family vacation photo album no one wants to see” sums up what I felt seeing these images. Maybe you could do a video, with a great example of a photography book (if you haven’t already). Anyway great video!

When nepos exclaim "but I work hard I sacrifice." In grad school, I sold all my camera and lighting gear so I could buy food. It took me almost 2 decades to save and buy things. I feel confident Brooklyn will never face that moment. I don't fault them for having privilege. I fault them for not acknowledging it.

I'm not gonna ostracize a teen for not taking good pictures but I am going to call out the publisher for choosing him to get published. There are thousands of aspiring photographers out there who put in the effort to learn proper exposure, composition, make do with what limited gear they have and still produce amazing images worthy of a book and yet they chose this. The opportunity should have been given to someone who really deserved it.

Why did he put his facebook photos in a book.

I have never heard of this kid or this book, nor do I care, I’m just here for your humor.

"Most popular teen," I've literally never heard of this guy before 💀

Nepotism at its finest. Giving rich kids opportunities they waste because they'll still be rewarded regardless

His captions sound like entries in a child's diary. Can't wait for the elephant.

I love how he was in iceland and took photos that managed to capture none of iceland lol. Nothing says FoToGraPhEE like a B&W picture of an open field

I'm not a photographer, but i feel like i could take better pictures than him with my phone

This book was published the same year Brooklyn dropped out the first year of a four year photography degree at Parsons School of Design. He's a nepo baby now married to anither nepo baby.

Penguin just approached him out of the blue? Sure, Jan 😏

I think it's nice that he likes photography, but maybe he should actually take some courses and learn about it a bit more. Just because someone has a camera doesn't make them a photographer.

I would rather look at a book filled with pictures taken by children or freshman year photographers, at least there'd be some heart and effort in those photos. This book seems like a cash grab for the publishers. Also, who is this kid? Never heard of him.

So he’s shooting these photos on a Leica camera, and they all look like photos you could do on an iPhone plus? The words are not strong with Beckham. His parents are glad, he’s not robbing houses or drinking excessively. So, silver linings.

I've listened to a podcast recently about Nepo babies. Beckhams son, Brooklyn, was one of the worst nepo babies, based on his talent. The chef job was a bust, the photographer stint was a miss. Hearing he came out with a photography book..... 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

As a mother of 18 year old boys, they would never do something so embarrassing 😂. This isnt an age thing, this is an entitlement thing.

I get that his captions aren't supposed to be funny, but they're SO funny. It's just the most 18 year old boy thing I've ever seen/heard.

I wrote a book when I was 16. Researched the process myself, queried dozens of companies, finally got it accepted by a small indie press. Penguin asking you to publish a book at 18 is WILD. Now 26, i see there was no rush and tbh wish I waited until I was older

"Sometimes described as the most popular teen" - up till this very video today, I didn't know who he was. Literally had to google before watching.

The Guy just said to put all the images he had on an SD card and publish the book.

I don't really have an opinion on Brooklyn's book, the publisher, the quality, etc. But I have to say, as creatives (I'm a passionate hobbyist photographer), sometimes there is no one else that can break our souls and make us question our art faster than another creative who absolutely rips us. Photography is, to me, the one medium that allows us to do what we want creatively. It doesn't have to make sense to anyone else. We shoot what we shoot because it's what we want to shoot. It's what WE see. What we love. You make a great point. Brooklyn does have access to all kinds of resources that you, me and most people won't have. But that doesn't matter. He's 18. If he's passionate about photography, he will learn and grow. He may look back at that book when he's 28 and ask, "Who the hell let me publish THAT?" And if he asks that question, it will mean he's grown in his skills. The downside of being a celebrity is, people won't say to them, "This isn't ready." Or, "Give it some time, study the craft, get better, and then think about publishing a book. Right now, it's not your time." I'm 58 years old. At 50, I decided I really wanted to learn the art of photography. I didn't know what an f-stop was. Manual mode was a foreign language. Thank goodness for KZfaq; I literally learned how to be a photographer by committing hundreds and hundreds of hours of my time to devouring tutorials on how my camera worked. Then, different styles of photography, and so on. I began to experiment. When someone called me a photographer back then, I would laugh and so, "Oh, I wish. I'm still learning." And that was true. If someone would've have shown me, at 51, a photo that I would take in the future, and asked me, "Who took this photo?" I would've said, "I have no idea, but it's a fantastic photograph!" If that person had then said to me, "This is a photo you will take 8 years from now." I would've said, "Get outta here!" Two weeks ago, the artistic director of a local ballet company reached out to me and asked if I would photograph their spring program called "Emergence." I shot the rehearsal, dress rehearsal, and performance. He and the dancers were floored. We get better with time and practice. But a sure fire way to end someone's desire to get better, is by tearing them completely down. Critiques help all of us to grow. Trashing a newbie artist could make them stop before they get a chance to be better.

I feel bad for the kid. His photos are ok for his age (meaning they suck), but its nowhere near a level that should be published, especially in an edition like this. It got published because his parents and now everyone will just write him off as a shitty artist. Which he is, but he could develop if he went through the steps as everyone else. He should create a new instagram account with a fake name and publish a book with the fake name and he could then begin to improve after struggling to sell a single one.

Can you please do some more celeb photo book reviews like Kim Kardashians “selfish” 😂

Just wait,Instagram influencers are going to churrn OUT a photography-book just hold just hold for a good 3-4 months I'm telling you😂😂😂 This book is basically instgram but hard cover give it 3-4 months all these i influencers are going to come out with their own book

Nothing but a RUTHLESS morning to start my day! 😂😂

The fact that Penguin approached him and not the other way around is heartbreaking. It’s a real spit in the face for all authors and creatives struggling to make a name for themselves. It’s just the name of the game I guess

What a JOKE. It's just a money maker merch, capitalizing on his family name. just like the typical celebrities/models' merch like "skincare" perfumes, makeup etc.

This is what happens when you have famous parents and are mummy and daddy's most special boy. This child drips arrogance. This is embarrassing, and not in the least because all of these are EXACTLY what I'd expect from a teenager who thinks they are artsy.

Jessica: “you know who could’ve given us a way better picture with this background” me: BRANDON WOELFEL!!!! literally, his 2016/2017 neon era. he was (and still is) one of my biggest photography inspirations. and so are you Jessica!!

The book is giving Instagram 'photographer' with 50 followers

Have I ever been this early to a video? I don't think so. But here I am, hello world

I am truly wondering if this wasn't Brooklyn would the critism be so harse. It's basically a glorified photozine with a hardcove. Captureing a period of his life with his people. I'm not sure what the big deals is personally. I've definately seen way worse. And I have seen many high-profile historical photographers with black and white images, high contrast, blur and the selfie with camera in mirror or reflection - he tried all the things at 18. give him a break. It's not even priced at a serious hardback photobook price - thats says it all. It needs no attention. I didn't even know it existed until this video.

Art is in the eye of the beholder. He’s also just 18 years old. The good thing is that it isn’t a copy paste of some Instagram trend. You can see him trying to find what photography is. He needs to put hundreds of hours behind the lens before he finds it. Hope he keeps chasing after it.

I notice he and the publisher didn't give credit to the other photographers that also worked on this book. How convenient!

The epitome of narcissistic nepo baby. It's more like a family photo album rather than a photo book. What a shame

This reminds me of when I first started taking photos and posted them for all to see. Now I look back decades later and think "What was I thinking!" except this rich kid got a book. How embarrassing.

You know Jessica is peak disappointed when she switched to arabic 😂😂😂 Love you girl ❤❤❤

Tbh I think he just wanted to make a scrapbook lol

Agreed with everything you said. What a waste of opportunities for someone who does not have talent for photography.

The paper died for nothing

The snark is strong and I'm so here for it.

Hey, Jessica have thought about doing critique of photos submitted by your subscribers? Your professional insights could help beginner photographer grow.

This feels like a very young person trying out an art medium. There is going to be a wild range of stuff and if you're lucky you might accidently stumble into one good one. Like playing golf for the first time, 60% of your shots are going the who knows where, 39% are complete swing and a miss, and 1% are actually good. But that's important for the novice, that 1% will always be enough to get you energized to do it again, and through time and practice you learn how to increase your chances of nailing those shots. So that's what this feels like, very much someone not really deserving of a full on published book, but also someone I can't blame for having it. It's not his fault his parents are who they are and it's not his fault a major publisher was game for publishing his work. The real question is, will he take this and run with it, if he loves photography will he continue to grow as a photographer. Really, in 20 or 30 years will we be seeing one hell of a photo book from this young man and all look back at this book and just laugh? Only time will tell.

They say his next book is an autobiography within an autobiography, i.e., Brooklyn as observer and participant, i.e., something that has never been done before since the dawn of mankind. It'll be called Brooklyn on Brooklyn.

It's giving Gabbie Hanna poetry book tbh

How's he have a $6k camera and THAT'S what he has to show? Lazy is right.

I'm in tears lauging! On the other hand I am a bit sympathetic with the guy. I guess he never had the chance to be a normal person. He *HAD* to be famous. Being the son of rich celebrities…he had no chance. So people force him to do things like a photo book and give him the feeling he is a genius and here we are.

Im honestly so happy this book was published! I havent been doing photography for long and always think about creating a photobook, and Brooklyn has given the me courage to pursue my passions even if it’s bad.

You didn't get to the excellent 'Elephants in Kenya, so hard to photograph but incredible to see', which depicts a silhouette of what we must, from the caption, assume is an elephant. It may as well just be a silhouetted scrotum. The thing is, if you Google 'Elephant Photographs', hundreds of millions of photographs tell the lie to Beckham's statement. Even the average tourist on safari with a camera can take a perfectly well exposed picture of an elephant. Unfortunately, Brooklyn Beckham can't. I believe he's now given up on his photography career dreams. He went to study undergrad photography in New York but bailed after one semester. He worked as an assistant in Rankin's studio in London, but it didn't last. Sometimes even the ultimate nepo babies can't fulfil their ambitions. Perhaps it's because they have no ambition to begin with when a life of luxury and a Leica is handed to them on a plate. Silly sausage.

Dude turned his instagram post into a book.

I don't know what's more impressive, his massive talent or his towering intellect.

The words “this looks like a family album” went through my head right before you said exactly that lol. And your comment about putting your work up on Instagram for 20 followers hit me in my soul. 😂 Absolutely love your work, Jessica!

I looked up the Burberry pictures. They're not bad to an untrained eye like myself but what I bet actually happened is someone set everything up for him and he just took the pictures..like Tyra does lol

He jumped over into a neighbour's garden because he was dissatisfied of living on the hedge.

You know how many thousands of squirrels are homeless after they cut the trees to print that? 🌲🌰🐿 A lot!! 😳

While the photos aren’t great by any professional standard, it does take a lot of work to put a book together regardless. I think people should just go ahead and hate this but perhaps not so publicly. Photography is hard and what’s really hard is putting your work out there, for this reason. Nepotism and rich or not.

The publishers don’t consider this a photo book and neither should you. This is Beckham merch. That is why it was made. It is no different than a keychain, a bumper sticker, a coffee mug, or a t-shirt. Stuff that they know they will return a profit. An album will be next. He also has an art director who sets up all of the shots for him, handle the lighting, the location, the models,and in the old days they would have loaded the film for him and set the shutter speed and aperture, made sure it was focused so all he has to do is press the shutter. I am not joking. I have known many “photographers” like this incredibly lucky kid. I hope he realizes how blessed he is and devotes his life to helping others.

He could have wanted to be a surgeon or an engineer in a nuclear power plant. Think of the countless lives Mom & Dad Beckham saved by giving him a camera and some publishing connections. And Jessica... please do part 2!

There is only ONE photo of me in my photo books - and it's on the dust jacket in the back of the book where it gives a blurb about the author.

Honestly, a snapfish photo book looks better than this. Also, just because the photos are black and white, doesn’t automatically make it more artistic.

I believe it's a terrific concept. Jessica made a side-by-side comparison of Brooklyn's images with wet plate photos simply because Jessica's analysis would provide valuable insights into the historical significance of Brooklyn's contributions to photography. It is worth noting that plate photos most likely exhibit sharper details compared to Brooklyn's photos. LOL

I am typing this only 9 minutes in and I already need to get this off my head....its like a kids story/first reader picture book....big picture and them a sentence or two accompanying them

Usually when I buy a illustration / photography book, I turn every page with the fear of that page being the last one. With this one the feeling was a little bit different, on each page, I was scared of more pages after the current one. The only good thing about this book is that it teaches me that I still have a chance, i just need rich parents and 9 million followers on instagram. Nothing against the kid, he has the resources to pay an instructor, sure he’s gonna get good after this failure, I’m just a bit sad about the trees that were used to print this book and a bit jealous of only have like 200 instagram followers after a couple of years and thousands of dollars, but hey, it is what it is.

"Selfish“ by Kim Kardashian is a "delicate intimate visual journey" next to this nepo worth-nothing "photography" book.

When I was in high school, you could buy a page in the yearbook if you were a senior to put your own photos on. A couple friends and I bought one and waited until the last day to take pictures and chose what we wanted on the page. You could tell we put no effort into it. This book reminds me of that.

did the book came with a refund option? it look like you waste some money.

Absolutely cooked the fraud lol

I feel like the real villain here is penguin

Im guessing he didnt want to put his best work because he wants to sell it for big bucks like most photographers do. He put his worst work in the book because its just a quick money grab using his hand me down celebrity status

I take this as a personal challenge. As Ansel is my witness, I will create a worse photography book!

Well Done. The best line "They cut down trees to publish this book...and that makes me sad"

I am not sure about this book. It could just be an ironic coffee table self-portrait of his life. However, I saw him a couple of years ago with a Leica on a strap around his neck, talking about himself and photography. I was thinking that he would be studying it somewhere and becoming a “name” by now. It’s all a bit Derek Zoolander, somehow. There’s scope for an editor and some fancy post-production and a story, if an art director and a team got involved. Where was the Penguin creative team when this was being produced? His photographic reputation could have been made, if he got some help in making it. It’s like the Universe is teaching him a life lesson. Somebody dropped the ball.

this was so hard to get through LOL. i was so bored by his work that i had to keep stopping myself from clicking out of the video, then i was getting SO MAD at how bad it is. you hit the nail on the head with the comment on how he has so many resources photogs like us could only dream of. glad i made it through this one for your incredible commentary but WOW. extreme snoozefest of a book and such an insult to working photographers

Thank you for your honest assessment of Brooklyn Beckham's book. I'm a professional photographer and I have had some of my work displayed in galleries mostly in group shows and because I am not a "name" I have a hard time getting my work discovered. I lived in Pacific Palisades for a number of years and one of the things I began to notice are the number of dilatants (people with little or no talent) who work their butts off attempting to get their work discovered and most of them do because they have MONEY to afford having a gallery show where they can invite their influential patrons who will purchase their work and give it exposure.. Brooklyn is an example of this type of individual. He has expensive equipment, his family can afford to travel to exotic locations and his mother has all kinds of connections where he can pick up assignments and have his work displayed and published. There are others like me who work hard all their life and yet to have a solo exhibition. In today's world, talent means nothing, having wealthy and/or very famous family does.

The classic case of “Yes, baby!! Give us nothing and expect everything in return!!”

It's all about name recognition because of his celebrity parents. People make fun of it and from a pure photography perspective it's pretty bad. But neither the publisher nor Beckham cares about the pictures. It's about having something to sell. Whether it's to insta fans or people that bought the book just to see how bad it was he still makes money. The best thing for folks who really don't care and wish truly passionate and talented photographers to be given such chances is not to buy his book even if it's to poke fun at it. After all, he still wins and the cycle continues.

“I only take pictures of water bottles and fences..” LMAO, Jessica! 😂

I think the video has to be graded a bit better Jessica. It seems like you or the one who supposed to grade it, just left it in Log profile. The colors are washed.

It's giving first day of high school photography class.

At first I thought this was satirical criticism of the commercialization of photo books. The mirror selfie on the first page feels like parody. But you’re right, it has the vibe of a family photo book and little more. It’s the blandest kind of bad

As a fellow photographer I've got to say, this doesn't sit right with me. An adult tearing up a teenager's work for clicks and cloud? It doesn't matter who he is, he's still 18. When you called out predatory behaviour during the ANTM shoots, that was absolutely valid and warranted. This, not so much. The book is titles "What I see", so that should be a clue as to what it entails. This isn't "The 100 best fashion photos", so why try and judge it by that? It's someone documenting their life. And from that I'd expect interesting compositions and spur of the moment shots that won't necessarily have perfect lighting and set-up. Photography, as is all art, is subjective. Anyone can learn the "proper" technique and equipment, hire a model that does half the work for you, roughly follow some composition rules and produce a serviceable well lit, clean photo. But creating photos that capture the Zeitgeist of the era they were taken in, is a different matter. That's hard and a lot of it does come down to opportunity and accident. Are the captions cringe and lack some self-awareness? Yes, but then again, that's most teenagers. Is the marketing questionable? Definitely! But again, going after a teenager, who got to publish some of his work, which presumably still took time and effort, regardless who his parents are, is rather sad. And let's be really honest here, if he wasn't Brooklyn Beckham but Peter Peterson from Backrock Ohio, who for some reason got published, everyone would be stoked for him.

Anyone know what she's saying at 4:30 ?

Hearing the description of this book after seeing the contents is WILD 🤣🤣🤣 holy moly

He made a photography book out of Instagram posts. Ridiculous captions included.

Love your commentary, totally agree! I could take better pics even tho I'm not a professional, I'm just increadibly hung up on composition and colors lol. could you please do a good quality photography book review as well? :3

I didnt even know who is was and the first thing it appear when i search his name was "‘Embarrassing’: Brooklyn Beckham loses another job." news about him

Can I get Jessica to critique my photo book as well? Even if she passively-aggressively roasts the hell out of me, it would hurt so good 😊

Honesty is the best policy. The savagery is a big plus 😅

I mean, you guys have to understand that he put this book out in 2017. He was what, 18-19? Dude’s 25 now and apparently doing quite well with cooking instead. Either way, everyone starts somewhere with photography. Half of us in here probably started with photos like these or worse ahaha. I don’t think he needed a whole book published over amateur-level shots, but whatever. The whole “I hate rich 18 year old guys” for pursuing something they’re passionate in is a pretty lame card to play.

I feel these photos should just be on a blog or a Instagram, not in a book. Maybe Brooklyn’s assistant wrote this and not him, maybe he couldn’t be bothered. Right words used: low effort.

This video was funny, Even if I don't know the person who made this book😂

Ah yes. I'm here for a peak Jessica roasting. Seriously though, I think he missed a great opportunity for titling those 3 pics, Living on the Hedge.

This book is proof of what I've been bitching about for so long. The industry favors privileged photographers. I suppose the same could be said for any creative field that relies on " who you know" over talent, but when I see these individuals shoot campaigns, it just makes me want to give up. It's disheartening, especially when they tokenize diversity without truly uplifting talented photographers who could leverage such opportunities to secure representation or ongoing projects. How many diverse photographers introduced in 2020 as a nod to social movements have managed to sustain their impact and success? I know only a hand full but, it seems popularity over talent wins.

The sarcasm is on point. I'm surprised the book didn't just go up into flames to be honest... I love this review... I. F'ING. LOVE. IT.

I blame the publisher and anyone else that enabled this. He seems like a good kid that has a budding passion for photography but was sucked into a woefully premature showing of his work. Brooklyn Beckham is another victim of not knowing how much he doesn’t know. It takes thousands of hours of practice to get proficient at artistic skills. You can’t buy it. Piling on the criticism just serves to destroy his soul and not help him be a better photographer or human being. Be kind.

I love your indignation. This is just another example of how success is largely down to who your parents are.

It's like back when you had to wait to get your film developed and then all your vacation photos were terrible but you put them in an album anyway..