8 Unconventional Coffee Table Books for Photographers
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One of the very few household traditions from the 1950s that hasn't died out is the art of the coffee table book.
You'll find tasteful photos of coffee table books (like these) scrolling through Unsplash, or Instagram, or your favorite influencers blog.
Photo by MARK ADRIANE on Unsplash
Coffee table books are so pertinent to our culture because they immediately let guests know who you are and what you prioritize.
Books are a unique household item because oftentimes they exist only on display.
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Coffee Table Book Controversy
Coffee table books and hardcover books, the kind that exist only to impress guests, are now controversial.
For fans of Marie Kondo, the cleaning guru who hosts her own Netflix show and encourages people to get rid of any items that don't "spark joy," you'll know she recently started an online argument about books that are just for display.
She believes if you are just keeping a book to prove how smart you are that you are being pretentious. If your library consists of books you've already read that you hated, or books you will never read because you aren't interested in them, then what is the point of keeping them?
In an effort to help our readers with this dilemma, we searched high and low to find photography-centric coffee table books that you will be proud to put on display, but not just because you deem the books intellectual enough to impress your friends.
Coffee Table Book Recommendations for Photographers
Photo by Baher Khairy on Unsplash
Each and every one of our recommendations were chosen with and for photographers. But, there are so many classifications of photographers and niches that one may enjoy.
Editor's Tip: Do you have beautiful photos but aren't sure how to display them? Turn them into large format prints! See what your photos look like as fine art.
We tried to pick a few coffee table books for 5 types of photographers.
For the Travel Photographer
National Geographic Rarely Seen: Photographs of the Extraordinary is a New York Times bestseller inspired by a traveling photography exhibition, also by National Geographic.
The book, which focuses on places and phenomena rarely seen by humans, features works by photographers who are paid to catch once-in-a-lifetime moments.
Within the book are photos of underwater parks in Austria, a supercell storm cloud, and an introduction by National Geographic photographer Stephen Alvarez.
Hideouts: Grand Vacations in Tiny Getaways is a feat of light and architecture, written by an author with extreme wanderlust.
The book explores odd accommodations all over the world, while highlighting the heart of the people who stay in them.
If you find yourself cruising through wacky AirBnB listings, like castles in Europe, tiny homes in Peru, or treehouses in Australia, this is the book for you.
For the Photojournalist
Not very much is known about North Korea because journalists are really, really disliked there.
In Inside North Korea Guardian photojournalist Oliver Wainwright seeks to explain the capital of Pyongyang, which was entirely rebuilt in 1953 by the Communist leader Kim Il-sung.
The architecture of the city is "national in form and socialist in content." It is a stage from which each new authoritarian leader attempts to numb the North Korean people.
Each photo resembles a Wes Anderson set, which works along the lines of Kim Jong-Un's patriotic slogan, "Let us turn the whole country into a socialist fairyland."
For the Fashion Photographer
Kate: Photographs of Kate Moss is a tell-all by her ex-boyfriend and international superstar photographer Mario Sorrenti.
The book, which features a multitude of never-before-published shots from the early 1990s, features photos of Moss which inspired Calvin Klein to hire her for his Obsession campaign.
This book is unique because it delves into the careers of two, a supermodel and an international photographer, before either of them were anyone.
Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze focuses its lens on up-and-coming female artists who all grew up in the digital age.
The book explores the intersection of photography, the internet and female self-image.
Each highlighted artist uses their photography and interview to explain what it means to be a female creative.
For the Landscape Photographer
Planet Earth II: A New World Revealed is the coffee table accompaniment to the successful BBC (and Netflix, for those of us not in England) documentary.
The Planet Earth franchise is one of the most successful and debilitating binge-watches of our era. If the show can make you gasp, the photography in this book will make you weep.
For the Photographer Who's Interested in History
Election Eve is the perfect book for history buffs, political buffs or anyone who loves the in-between spaces in life.
It follows photographer William Eggleston on the day before the Jimmy Carter election in 1976.
True to its title, all of the photographs in the book were taken in October 1976, yet none of them make any political comment or actually follow the politics of the era.
Eggleston traveled from Memphis to Plains, Georgia (the home of Jimmy Carter) and photographed everything he could along the way. His photos are mostly devoid of people, crafting a less-idealized version of America in the 1970s.
Sadly, this is Eggleston's rarest collectible book, which means you can't find a collectible version for less than $125 online.
A History of Photography in 50 Cameras is the only photography-centric coffee table book we can get behind for our list.
History of photography books are mostly overplayed and, let's be honest, boring. They either feature works by photographers we've seen 1,000 times or absolute nobodies who didn't know what they were doing with a camera.
This book is different. It tells the story of photography through the industry's first and only necessary piece of equipment.
It highlights the Nikon F for saving Don McCullin's life when it stopped a bullet in the Vietnam War and the Speed Graphic for successfully photographing the 1937 Hindenburg blimp from the hip of the photojournalist who didn't have enough time to properly set up the shot.
A History of Photography in 50 Cameras is the only book on our list that is more word-heavy than picture-forward, but we promise it's worth it.