Top photography books you should own if your a student photographer

If you didn’t know already, I managed to get myself a degree in photography! Throughout my time at university I ended collecting a lot of books. Too many in fact, they’re clogging up my wardrobe! I thought it would be interesting to do a blog post on my favourites, whether your a photography enthusiast, or your studying it, this post will be a good read if you would like to get some photography books yourself.

Vivian Maier: Self Portraits 

This is my all time favourite photography book, incredible photos with an incredible story to go with it. Vivian Maier was a woman who was active around the 50s-90s, she was just a nanny who had a passion for taking photos. She never had her photos developed, so when she died her storage room was auctioned off. The man who bought it thought it would be interesting to develop the negatives and he hit jackpot. Vivian Maiers photographs are beautiful , my favourites are her self portraits, showcasing her day to day life. The book is a fantastic read, I ended up doing part of my dissertation on her I love her that much.

Lara Jade: Fashion photography 101

Lara Jade is one of my favourite current photographers, she’s a fashion photographer from the UK who is mainly based in New York. At one point in uni I really thought I wanted to go into fashion photography, but I don’t have enough confidence to contact models and I always think my photos look like poop (which is why I always photographed my flat mate alot). Lara is so inspiring and in this book she shows diagrams of how she lit the shot, which I always find so interesting and you can take inspiration from this.

Chris Gatcum: Creative Photography

This book is similar to the Lara Jade book, its on of them that show you the behind the scenes and I really love looking at the behind the scenes of fine art photography. It also has little projects for you to do yourself which is great when your feeling not as creative, it just keeps that creative flow. It’s also great if you want to find fine art photographers to put in your coursework!

Susan Bright: Art Photography Now

This book is a MUST if your a photography student. Honestly all your lecturers will go on and on about this book, its the same as The photograph as contemporary art by Charlotte Cotton (Sadly I don’t own this book!). I always thought why are my lecturers going on about this, but I can tell you now it is a life saver for your work, I’ve referenced this book so much and I really enjoy reading about these different photographers.

Brooke Shaden: Inspriartion In Photography

One of my photography friends recommend this book to me in my first year, I love Brooke Shaden’s work and when I found out she had a book I was eager to buy it. She talks about herself, her photography, her history and how she takes her self-portraits. It’s a really interesting read! It also has small inspiration tasks for you to do if your not feeling so motivated.

Paul Hill: Approaching Photography

Paul Hill actually came into my university do do a lecture, he told us all about how he got into photography how he does it and so on. He’s a very interesting man! He sort of just fell into photography, he made me laugh the way he was talking about it as he said he just sticks the camera on auto and takes a photo of something that looks interesting, you should have seen the lecturers faces! I ended up getting a getting myself a signed copy of his book, which has some great imagery.

Do you own any photography books? If you do, what are your favourites? I’d love to know!

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