Confidence in 40 Images: The Art of Self-Belief

The reason “one person has been able to drive their ideas forward [and] overcome inhibitions... while another has languished,” generally boils down to “an issue of confidence,” according to this exquisite photo-and-essay collection from the School of Life (Reasons to Be Hopeful), an organization dedicated to helping people live more fulfilled lives. Each entry pairs a photo with an insight into a different facet of confidence, depicting a self-possessed, sunglasses-wearing James Baldwin next to the Seine in 1972 alongside a discussion of how the author moved to Paris in 1948 to “become himself” far from “moralistic and prurient” American society; readers should likewise “strive to become internal exiles... people who can behave like visitors in their own lands, no longer bound by local idiosyncrasies.” Elsewhere, a photo of German chancellor Angela Merkel walking next to her husband in a crowd draws a poignant link between confidence and love: “The world may know the heroic figure as the chancellor,” but “we need to be cared for like helpless infants in the night to be strong enough for the adult roles expected of us.” Despite a few misses, including a photo of skiers hurtling down a slope, tenuously linked to a confusing lamentation that “we are... fetishists without the confidence to acknowledge the singular nature of our delights,” these entries, which imaginatively connect confidence to everything from capitalism to leaving a party early, make for a thought-provoking and wide-ranging exploration. Those seeking an extra shot of self-esteem will be rewarded. (Nov.)