Inspiration is also born between the pages of a book, which reveals stories, anecdotes, images of photographers who have made a great sacrifice to convey the essence of their work to the public, the idea behind a project.
Images that hopefully have the strength to improve collective thinking and show us distant realities that we could not otherwise imagine.
In this article I share 8 Travel Photography Books that are part of my collection and that have inspired my own path as a photographer.
Travel Photography Books
1. Homage to Humanity - Jimmy Nelson
© Jimmy Nelson Pictures B.V. 2020
Jimmy Nelson’s project is big and ambitious. The aim is to portray the beauty of the different cultures that make up humanity, before globalization takes it all away.
Homage to Humanity is the result of a long journey of research and documentation that Jimmy carries out with his own photographic aesthetic. The portraits are posed, with attention to light, composition and the clothing and accessories that characterize the culture of the subjects.
Overall, more than 500 pages of an extraordinary book, an epic adventure that draws you in!
2. Born to Ice - Paul Nicklen
If you love nature and care about environmental conservation, Born To Ice is for you.
A book that collects the life’s work of National Geographic Photographer and Biologist Paul Nicklen, in the Arctic and Antarctica.
A journey into the land of ice to get to know the people and animals that are part of it and to become even more aware of how important it is to take care of our planet and fight climate change.
3. Inca Trail - Inés Miguens, Ángela Copello, Peter Frost
Inca Trails is the result of a journey undertaken by photographers Inés Miguens and Ángela Copello along the ancient Inca trails in the Andes.
A journey to discover the Andean native populations, their customs and traditions. Accompanied by the text of Peter Frost that reveals the history and events that have changed the lives of these peoples.
A dream journey..
4. Earth from Above - Yann Arthus Berthrand
The Earth from Above is a very ambitious project started by photographer Yann Arthus Berthrand back in 1978 and which he continues to pursue today.
The initial purpose was to attract the interest of the public to bring them closer to issues of environmental interest. Yann succeeded in his intent and today his work has been spread all over the world.
An example to follow and an extraordinary work that shows the beauty of our planet from a still uncommon point of view.
5. Travel Photography - Steve Davey
Travel Photography by Steve Davey is not your typical photography manual. It’s a book completely dedicated to Travel Photography, where Steve shares tips and images from his long experience in the field.
A well-written book that covers most of the topics in the field and from which you can really learn a lot.
6. Afghanistan - Steve McCurry
The book collects almost 40 years of travels in Afghanistan. Images that show great humanity, stories of people living in a country continually oppressed by conflict.
I chose to include Afghanistan because it is the trip that solidified McCurry’s career, especially through the “Portrait of the Afghan girl” first published in National Geographic in 1984.
But any book in his collection is worth the effort, an incredible body of work.
7. Exodus - Sebastião Salgado
Another great master of photography is Brazilian Sebastião Salgado.
His works leaves speechless, as well as the documentary about his life “The Salt of the Earth” filmed by German director Wim Wenders.
In this selection I have included Exodus. The result of 6 years of work documenting the migratory movements of people in more than 35 countries.
A colossal work, sad and emotional.
8. The Island of the Fisherwomen - Fosco Maraini
This is the oldest work in this selection of travel photography books, published in 1960 by the Italian anthropologist, writer and photographer Fosco Maraini, who dedicated much of his life to Japanese culture.
In July 1954 Maraini traveled to a small island in the north of Japan: Hekura Hegura-jima.
There lived a community of Ama, which assigned a task exclusively reserved for women: the fishing of awabi (“sea ears”, a species of molluscs) conducted by apnea along the seabed in front of the island.
The Island of Fisherwomen is the result of this unique reportage.
Do you have other Travel Photography Books to suggest?
Let me know in the comments below!
