Best Photography Books for Portraits & Self-Portraits
I don’t know about you, but I personally love learning from books – especially when it comes to photography.
In fact, I have a whole “photography section” on my bookshelf which is growing every month (I should probably get a library card to save some money!).
I gained most of my photography skills during a one year intensive course, but I’ve also learned a ton of stuff by reading photography books for portraits and self portraits, particularly in regards to artificial lighting.
For today’s blog post, I thought I’d share the photography books for portraits and self portraits I’ve found the most helpful.
The first section introduces great books specifially for self portrait photographers.
In the second part, I share fantastic photography books for portraits, as well as general photography books that will help you improve your self portrait and portrait photography.
If there’s any book YOU love that isn’t included in this list of photography books for portraits & self portraits, please leave me a comment – I would love to read it!
Part 1: The Best Books for Self-Portrait Photographers
Here are my favourite books for self-portrait photography:
Take Your Selfie Seriously: The Advanced Selfie and Self-Portrait Handbook, by Sorelle Amore
This book by Sorelle Amore is one of the few books on the market aimed specifically at self-portrait photographers.
It’s a great entry-level book that will give you lots of tips for posing and facial expressions (I particularly like the tips on how to pose your hands).
The book also contains some creative ideas for self portraits, as well as a section on technical settings and composition rules.
It’s not one of the most in-depth photography books out there, but I do recommend it, especially if you’re new to self-portrait photography.
The tips on posing and camera angles are invaluable, as posing can be really tricky when you’re first starting out.
(By the way, I’ve written a whole post on posing for self portraits; check it out here).
Click below to buy this book:
Take Your Selfie Seriously: The Advanced Selfie and Self-Portrait Handbook
Self-Portrait Photography: The Ultimate in Personal Expression, by Natalie Dybisz
This book by Natalie Dybisz is a super useful choice for self portrait photographers.
In the book, she analyses her own self portraits and explains her process step by step.
I like it a lot because it covers a bit of everything: the history of self portraiture, equipment options, taking the shot, post production/processing, and marketing your self portraits.
Another great feature of this book is the section on other self-portrait photographers, as it can be very inspiring to see other people’s work.
Click below to buy this book:
Self-Portrait Photography: The Ultimate in Personal Expression
Auto Focus: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography, by Susan Bright
This book by Susan Bright features the work of 75 photographers from around the world.
In their self portraits, the artists explore different themes such as identity or gender.
Each artist feature includes a self-portrait as well as a little blurb about the artist and their work.
You won’t find any information about photography techniques in the book, but it can serve as a great inspiration source if you haven’t found your style yet and want to check out different approaches to self-portrait photography (or simply get to know a few more photographers).
Click below to buy this book:
Auto Focus: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography
Just a little interruption to say…did you know you can download my free self-portrait photography ebook? More info below:
Free Ebook-50 Self Portrait Photography Ideas
Do you love self-portrait photography, but lack inspiration for your shoots? Then download my e-book with 50 ideas for self-portrait photography!
…but now, onto my next self portrait book recommendation!
The Self-Portrait: Art Essentials: 14, by Natalie Rudd
If you love not just photography, but also art in general, you should definitely check out this book written by curator Natalie Rudd.
In it, she shares self portraits from famous artists such as Pablo Picasso or Frida Kahlo together with a commentary on their work in historical context.
This is a great choice if you enjoy going to museums and galleries, as the book basically serves as a mini-exhibition around the topic of self portraits and can be a great inspiration source.
Click below to buy this book:
The Self-Portrait (Art Essentials) (Art Essentials, 14)
Das Selbstporträt: So zeigen Sie Ihre Persönlichkeit im Bild. Inspiration und Techniken für ausdrucksstarke Fotos, by various authors
If you happen to speak German, this book is an absolute must read for self-portrait photographers!
I randomly came across it in a bookshop and read it in one go.
It compares four different self-portrait artists who all have very different approaches to their work.
In the four sections of the book, each artist analyses some of their own images and discusses why they chose certain technical settings.
Additionally, they explain how they find ideas and what they get inspired by.
This is a wonderful book, and I wish it were available in English, too – hopefully one day!
Click below to buy this book:
Part 2: Best Photography Books for Portraits
The Dramatic Portrait, by Chris Knight
This book by Chris Knight is aimed at portrait photographers, but it’s just as useful for self-portrait photographers.
It contains a short history of art styles and portrait painting, as well as more technical topics such as lighting a portrait, using colour and postproduction.
I really like this book:
It demonstrates a lot of different lighting situations and shows how to achieve them with tools such as softboxes, illustrated in behind-the-scenes photos with detailed lighting diagrams.
It’s a great choice if you want to get more familiar with artificial lighting, particularly if you’re aiming for a painterly style in your photography.
Click below to buy this book:
The Dramatic Portrait: The Art of Crafting Light and Shadow
Photographing Women: Posing, Lighting, and Shooting Techniques for Portrait and Fashion Photography, by Jeff Rojas
Also available by the same author:
Photographing Men: Posing, Lighting, and Shooting Techniques for Portrait and Fashion Photography
I only have the book titled “Photographing Women” by Jeff Rojas, so I can’t speak on his other book, but judging by the value of his Photographing Women book, it must be just as good.
Photographing Women contains a lot of posing, lighting and shooting techniques for portrait photography, making it an excellent choice for self-portrait photographers also.
The author shows how to photograph different face shapes, how to pose women, how to retouch skin, how to style the model, and lots more.
There are also some images with lighting diagrams which show how he achieved specific effects in the pictures.
Click below to buy this book:
Photographing Women: Posing, Lighting, and Shooting Techniques for Portrait and Fashion Photography
Light it, Shoot it, Retouch it, by Scott Kelby
This book by Scott Kelby can be a useful choice for any self-portrait photographer who wants to learn more about studio lighting.
The version I own was published in 2012, so the chapters on Photoshop editing are a little out of date by now.
However, I noticed there is now a second, revised edition on the market, which should solve this issue.
I did enjoy this book a lot because the author shows different lighting setups and explains in detail which gear he used and why.
It’s a great behind-the-scenes book by a professional photographer that did help me a lot in the beginning.
Click below to buy this book:
STUDIO: Lighting Setups for Portrait Photography, by Andreas Bübl
This is another book dedicated to artificial lighting in photography, and it is absolutely incredible!
It actually used to be only available in German, so I’m thrilled to see that it’s now also been translated into English.
If you want to learn how to professionally light your self portraits with flashes, softboxes and other gear, this might be the only book you’ll ever need.
It’s very detailed and shows lots of different styles of lighting setups, for example for beauty portraits, classic headshots, glamour and fashion photos, boudoir nude photography, and so on.
I love it so much because it shows you not only a photo of the actual setup, but also a diagram, and the author explains in detail what effect each piece of gear creates.
I understand that not every self-portrait photographer is interested in using artificial light, but if you do want to set up some kind of home studio, I highly recommend you invest in this book as it will teach you a lot.
(By the way, you can also learn more about these topics in my posts on artificial lighting here and setting up a home studio here).
Click below to buy this book:
STUDIO: Lighting Setups for Portrait Photography
Photography, by John Ingledew
This book is actually a general book on photography rather than a dedicated photography books for portraits resource, but I think it’s a fantastic choice for your bookshelf nonetheless.
It covers a lot of topics: how a camera works, the origin of photography, the different genres of photography, how to get inspired, how to compose a photograph, how to control the camera, how to train as a photographer and where to exhibit or show your photography.
It was in fact published by Central St Martin’s, a prestigious art university in London, UK, and it shows – it’s a very well produced resource with a lot of inspiring images and detailed explanations.
A highly recommended book especially for photography beginners or anyone wanting to get to know photographers of all genres.
Click below to buy this book:
Photography Second edition (Portfolio)
Creative52, by Lindsay Adler
I only recently bought this book and really enjoyed it.
I was aware of the author, portrait and fashion photographer Lindsay Adler, because I had taken one of her online courses in the past, so I knew her book wouldn’t disappoint.
And indeed, it’s a very well thought-out book that contains 52 weekly project ideas, divided into the categories Concepts, Techniques and Postproduction.
I bought the book because I’ve felt a little uninspired in the last months and wanted to get some new creative impulses.
I would recommend this book if you find it difficult to come up with ideas for photo shoots or enjoy working to project briefs.
Click below to buy this book:
Creative 52: Weekly Projects to Invigorate Your Photography Portfolio
Digital Photography Complete Course, by DK
This is another general photography book rather than photography books for portraits.
It is aimed at beginners who want to learn the basics of photography.
Of course, there are a lot of these beginner books on the market, but I find this one particularly clear and well structured.
It contains a lot of different topics, like focusing, getting the right exposure, using depth of field, choosing a lens, taking close-up photos, composing a photo, using colour, using natural light, working with flash or working in black and white.
I think the books of the DK series are always very nicely laid out – they have a great colour-coded design with clear diagrams and are generally well written.
This is an excellent choice if you’re new to photography and don’t know what all the different settings on your camera do.
After reading this book, you would definitely be comfortable using the manual mode of your camera and know how to compose an interesting photograph.
Click below to buy this book:
The Photographers Playbook, various authors
This book was a lucky find in a museum bookshop, and it’s a great choice for your photography books for portraits bookshelf.
It basically contains 307 assignments and ideas for photography projects, each written by a different author, photographer or artist.
Some of them are very quick and easy to do, others are more complex and require some thinking or preparation work.
I love this book because you can simply open a page at random and complete the corresponding project whenever you feel uninspired.
The projects are pretty universal, so even though this book is not specifically aimed at portrait or self portrait photographers, you will be able to use it for that purpose, too.
Click below to buy this book:
The Photographer s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas
Fine Art Portrait Photography, by Nylora Bruleigh
This is a more obscure book which you might not find in your local bookstore, but I think it’s a nice little resource to have nonetheless.
In it, photographer Nylora Bruleigh shares some of her fine art portraits and explains which camera settings and lighting she used.
She also shares the file straight out of camera, which is really interesting to see, and explains how she edited the file in Photoshop.
I like this book because it gives you lots of different ideas for shoots you could do, plus you get some new ideas for how you may want to edit your photos in Photoshop.
Click below to buy this book:
Fine Art Portrait Photography: Lighting, Posing & Postproduction from Concept to Completion
The Business of Fine Art Photography: Art Markets, Galleries, Museums, Grant Writing, Conceiving and Marketing Your Work Globally, by Thomas Werner
This book is fantastic for everyone who is already a little bit more experienced and wants to learn how to distribute and share their work.
It’s written by a former gallery owner and curator who clearly has a lot of experience and knowledge about the fine art photography market.
The book contains information on the art market in general, how to approach galleries, how to exhibit your work, how to write an artist statement, how to write proposals, and lots more.
It’s a great resource for anyone who wants to take their photography seriously and start working with galleries or exhibiting their images.
Click below to buy this book:
Exhibiting Photography: A Practical Guide to Choosing a Space, Displaying Your Work, and Everything in Between, by Shirley Read
This is another book on exhibiting your photography, and I would equally recommend it.
The author actually also runs courses in London – I’ve just completed her six-week course on exhibiting photography, which was super useful.
Similarly to the book by Thomas Werner, Read’s book helps you navigate the fine art photography scene and explains how you can present your work, approach galleries, and so on.
What I particularly like about the book is that it contains very detailed information on how to organise your own exhibition, including printing, framing and hanging or approaching media outlets.
Click below to buy this book:
P.S.: If you need ideas for your portrait photography, make sure to download my free ebook below:
Free Ebook: 50 Portrait Photography Ideas
If you need fresh inspiration for your portrait photography, download my e-book which contains 50 creative ideas and projects for portrait photography.
