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Five Photography Books that Will Inspire Your Next Escape

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Photography, The Photography Issue
March 25, 2020

From candid portraits of early 20th century English bohemians to a sun-drenched chronicle of surf culture in California and Hawaii, these new titles offer wide-ranging perspectives on the world — and may just prompt your next escape.

The cover of "Bright Young Things" featuring Cecil Beaton's photos by Robin Muir
A black and white full page photo of six people taken by Cecil Beaton in Robin Muir's "Bright Young Things"
    Photos: “Cecil Beaton’s Bright Young Things” by Robin Muir / National Portrait Gallery Shop
    Photos: “Cecil Beaton’s Bright Young Things” by Robin Muir / National Portrait Gallery Shop

  1. Party with London’s high society in the Roaring ’20s —


    Bright Young Things (£35, National Portrait Gallery Shop) spotlights the glitterati of 1920s London as snapped by Cecil Beaton, legendary Vogue society photographer. The book’s subjects – writers, socialites and partygoers from the English aristocratic classes – are pictured in extravagant costumes revealing their self-enclosed world of performance and role-play.

A black and white photo collage make up the cover of “Anders Petersen: Stockholm”

  2. Immerse yourself in daily life in Stockholm —

    Famous for melancholic black-and-white portraits, Swedish lensman Anders Petersen focuses on the people and spaces of his home city for the first time in Anders Petersen: Stockholm (US$70, Artbook). Captured between 2015 to 2018, his photos are a visual diary of a fast-growing city and an intimate look into the joys, sorrows and everyday lives of its inhabitants.

A pink hued photo of Portugal's trees by Kate Bellm
    Photo: Kate Bellm
Black and white photo of a woman standing in the middle of the street in a feather dress
    Photo: Kate Bellm

  3. Take a dreamy road-trip through Portugal —

    Kate Bellm: Amor (€54, Hatje Cantz) is a decade-long travelogue, chronicling dreamy landscapes and nude muses (friends and lovers on the road) by Brit photographer Kate Bellm, known for her racy surreal aesthetic.

A photograph of Sunset Beach 1972, as seen in “Jeff Divine: 70s Surf Photographs”
The cover of “Jeff Divine: 70s Surf Photographs”
Sunset Beach 1972 (left).     Photos: Jeff Divine
Sunset Beach 1972 (left).     Photos: Jeff Divine

  4. Hang ten with OG surfers in California and Hawaii —

    Jeff Divine: 70s Surf Photographs (US$40, Artbook) is a glimpse into an era when boards were handmade in garages and wave-inspired slang was just beginning to develop. Pulled from the photographer’s enormous archive, the images reveal a nostalgic portrait of close-knit surfing communities in the U.S. before the sport became commercialized.

  5. Wander the streets of Tokyo after dark —

    Liam Wong, an art director and video game designer (he’s a former director for Montreal-based Ubisoft), first picked up a DSLR in 2015 and, on a work trip, began capturing Tokyo after dark for his debut photo series. Now these vivid cyberpunk- and animation-inspired scenes of the nocturnal city are available in TO:KY:OO ($56, Amazon).