The Best New-Release Books for Photographers

It’s that time of year again when plenty of books seem to be hitting the shelves – whether in-store, or online. With so many on offer, we thought we’d narrow these down to the best new-release books for photographers, in the hopes of inspiring and educating you further in this field!

Whether you choose to purchase (or pre-order) any of these for yourself or a fellow photography-loving friend, we’re sure that you’re going to love them!

Fashion Photography: The Story in 180 Pictures

‘Fashion Photography: The Story in 180 Pictures’ is a stunning book that presents the history of fashion photography, right up to the contemporary industry, in 180 expertly-crafted photos. It features work by every important fashion photographer of the past, alongside modern talents such as Richard Avedon, Horst P. Horst, Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, Steven Meisel, Corinne Day, and Juergen Teller, just to name a few.

Pieced together by Eugénie Shinkle, she “charts how fashion photography flourished with the rise of illustrated magazines, how influential art directors collaborated with photographers to shape epochs of style, and how generations of fashion photographers have built upon each other’s ideas to expand this genre.”

Stephen Shore

Named after one of the most influential photographers of our time, Stephen Shore, this newly-released publication serves as a catalog to reflect the full range of his unique portfolio. For those who might not be so familiar with Shore, he particularly rose to fame in the 1970s, capturing American popular culture in straightforward, unglamorous color images.

He was also the first living photographer to have a solo show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since Alfred Stieglitz (40 years earlier). Other solo shows include The Museum of Modern Art, New York; George Eastman House, Rochester; Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Jeu de Paume, Paris; and the Art Institute of Chicago. Since 1982 Shore has been the director of the Photography Program at Bard College, New York, where he is the Susan Weber Professor in the Arts.

The Flash Book

If you’d prefer a photography-related new release that acts as more of an educational guide, rather than a celebration of a single photographer or genre, then you’re sure to love ‘The Flash Book’. It tackles a topic that many photographers struggle with: flash photography.

The book reveals: “We don’t ‘love’ our flashes, and worse yet, in many cases, we’ve even stopped using them altogether. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You just need somebody to help you unlock the real secrets to getting beautiful, consistent, and easily repeatable results.”

Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio 27

If, like us, you love photography contests, then you’re probably well-aware of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, which has been running for more than 50 years now. Thankfully, the Natural History Museum has just released its latest portfolio in the series, featuring all the winning photographs from the 2016 competition.

The publication further explains: “The photographs are chosen by an international jury for their artistic merit and originality, from categories that together represent a diversity of natural subjects. The range of styles is also diverse, as is the genre of photography, including action, macro, underwater, landscape, or environmental reportage. Together this outstanding collection is a reminder of the splendor, drama, and variety of life on Earth.”

Adobe Photoshop CC Classroom in a Book

This book is so hot-off-the-press, it hasn’t actually been released yet! Before you get in a panic though, ‘Adobe Photoshop CC Classroom in a Book’ is available for pre-order, and it will be ready to be shipped in early 2018. Phew!

The book’s bio further states: “The 15 project-based lessons show key step-by-step techniques for working in Photoshop, including how to correct, enhance, and distort digital images, create image composites, and prepare images for print and the web.”

A Wild Life

‘A Wild Life’ serves as a visual biography of photographer Michael Nichols, as told with passion and insight by author and photo-editor Melissa Harris. In case you haven’t heard of Michael “Nick” Nichols, he is an award-winning photographer whose work has seen him travel far and wide. He became a staff photographer for National Geographic magazine in 1996 and was named editor-at-large for photography in January 2008.

The publication explains: “Nichols’ story combines a life of adventure, with a conviction about how we can redeem the human race by protecting our wildlife.”

There you have it – our pick of the best new-release books for photographers. Will you be purchasing or reading any of these publications? We hope you enjoy them as much as we did!