Looking for the best books on portrait photography? This selection includes some of the top titles that are available right now.
Capturing the very essence of someone – or capturing the substance that they wish to portray – is a challenge. How, in a single moment, can you freeze a living, breathing person? How can you convey the impression of their souls (or, if they’re a client, give off the look they want)? Luckily, you’re not the first to face this challenge, and a good number of great photographers have put finger to keyboard to share their skills. So many, in fact, that I’ve deliberately narrowed the field to the 10 best books available on portraiture and posing for portrait photography.
This selection is deliberately skewed toward the practical, so it’s of use to photographers rather than academics. I'm also looking more at formal portraits here – if candid photography or street photography is more what you had in mind, we’ve also compiled a list of the best books on street photography.
Some titles in our best books on fashion photography guide may well also provide useful insights for portrait photographers.
Best books on portrait photography
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Henry Carroll’s series of books on photography is an example of exceptional publishing, and this one, dedicated to portraiture, is no exception. They show what a little academic knowledge can do when boiled down by great editors, skilled illustrators, and an investment in the images – many publishers skimp on using photographs from famous photographers for books of this price because of the cost of licensing, but not here.
They’re also beautifully bound, with matt paper, some shiny (foil), and debossed lettering. That tactile experience and flickability make them superb gifts. They are inspiring to browse and contain useful nuggets of information that any creative person in your acquaintance should enjoy. The recipient, in other words, will not be disappointed.
Anyone looking to enhance their skills in portraiture will find this volume useful. Drawing on the work of 20 photographers from around the world, authors Cian Oba-Smith and Max Ferguson assess established approaches to portraits and explore the latest contemporary thinking. Readers can also get involved, with each chapter containing projects to follow.
Mark Wilkinson is an enthusiastic photographer, and Imogen – the model of the titular “one face” – is his acquaintance. Their chance encounter spawned not only one of Europe’s most popular photography YouTube channels, Weekly Imogen, but also this book.
Its simple premise is to offer easy-to-follow examples you can use to get as many different looks as possible with the same model. In so doing, it also covers many basics of photographing all people (and there is a chapter with models other than Imogen). Since so many of us start out with family members or cooperative friends serving in that role, this light-hearted but informative guide is a good way to build your confidence shooting people.
This book tells the professional story behind Heisler’s portrait shoots of 50 A-listers. Every photo is someone you’ll recognize: celebrities, stars, politicians, and astronauts, including Al Pacino, Julia Roberts, Muhammad Ali, and Hillary Clinton. In the unlikely event you’ve not come across his work, Gregory Heisler is well-known for his portraiture, which has often graced the cover of Time magazine.
For the casual reader, discovering the stories behind these iconic photos is exciting, but the book goes one step further – the photographer is treated to Heisler’s methodical and detailed “thoughts on technique”, which are unmatched by even many photo educators. The book certainly does not miss out the story about how Heisler’s portrait of George W. Bush – and the analogue technique involved – cost him his White House clearance.
It’s encouraging to see that the author’s photography has appeared in Vogue and GQ, but what really makes this such a great book for photographers to learn from is its attention to detail. Some books are collected from the photographer’s back catalogue, augmented with a few dim memories of how a single finished shot was created, like a series of captions.
Here, however, in the key examples, Knight provides a series of samples showing the setup with each light switched on individually, so you can see how they contribute to the finished piece. That’s absolutely fantastic, especially for a photographer moving past the basics, and it doesn’t hurt that Knight is fun to read, too.
Advertising and commercial photographer Peter Hurley began as something of a brand himself; as an Olympic sailor, he found himself in Bruce Weber’s frame, and ended up modeling for some big brands. He also learned from Weber and went on to become a photographer and something of an entrepreneurial educator, building the Headshot Crew community.
You might well dislike having every penny squeezed from you by your teacher, but this book provides all of Hurley’s legitimate insights into offering Headshots without compelling you to even hand over an email address. It is pure of purpose, oriented at a specific subset of portraits, but one in much demand. That makes this a great book for photographers looking to, for example, shoot actors’ headshots.
Publisher Rocky Nook appears several times on this list because, as photography specialists, they’re good at pinpointing areas of need and have the editorial skills to handle technical photography books. This is a title that certainly fits that profile – author Orwig is not short of technical ability – but it also addresses building rapport with the subject and capturing a range of portrait shots that are well suited to the needs of modern clients, or personal social media.
The fundamentals, in other words, are complemented by Orwig’s efforts to make modern portraits engaging without being contrived. In his words, revealing people’s paradoxes is made easy for the reader thanks to early discussions about how a viewer takes in a portrait. It doesn’t feel overly academic, and it is no coincidence that the cover looks like an Instagram grid!
Sometimes you just need to flick through the work of an undisputed master of the genre, and it’s impossible to argue with Steve McCurry’s credentials on that score. The Afghan Girl, the cover photo, is a leading contender for the most famous photograph of all time, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to see more of the Kodachrome master.
This is, too, very accessibly priced. It’s presented in a compact hardback format, which makes it a nice gift (or self-gift) for photo lovers. It’d be nice to have a little more detail in the captions, and it is a monograph, so variety is limited, but this is far from Phaidon’s most expensive book – really, you can have no complaints.
Bailey’s memoir (he doesn’t answer to David) was a long time coming, but for any followers of his extraordinary career, it has definitely been worth the wait. ‘Unputdownable’ isn’t really a word, but it applies here… from the first chapter, the anecdotes and vignettes come quicker than burst mode on a pro-spec camera.
Plough through this book, which is very easy to do, and you’ll be rewarded with a veritable Who’s Who of the movers and shakers that Bailey captured on film. But Look Again isn’t just a series of anecdotes with name-drops clanging on each page, oppressively arranged in a rigid chronological sequence. For some added color, Bailey’s co-author James Fox sits in on some conversations between Bailey and his collaborators – frank, funny, and sprinkled with expletives, it's like reading a series of podcast transcriptions.
With a background in fashion editorial and clients including Marie Claire, not to mention numerous turns as a Canon and Adobe speaker, Adler is well placed to write on this subject: practiced, knowledgeable, and aware of photographers’ questions.
Her approach relies a great deal on comparing successful results with many ‘posing errors,’ so don’t expect academic discussions or even high-fashion results. For an enthusiast or beginner who now needs to make people look good every time, however, this book provides plenty of help for developing a photographer’s eye.
Read more:
• The best books on fashion photography
• The best books on street photography
• The best photography books for beginners and pros
• The best books on food photography
• The best photobooks: make your own photography book
