Poetic travel photography books to collect now

Let our pick of new travel photography books transport you to enticing locations from the comfort of your own home. Lose yourself in ethereal Japanese landscapes, Italian summers and France of the late 80s. Whether you're an aspiring photographer or planning a break, let the wanderlust wash over you and enjoy a spot of armchair travelling with inspiration from photographers such as Sam Youkilis, Lucy Laucht and Jake Clark.

The best new travel photography books

‘France 1987’ by Mark Steinmetz (Nazraeli Press, 2024)

It was in the summer of 1987 when American photographer Mark Steinmetz, then 26 years old and only a couple years out of graduate school, was awarded an artist’s residency in the south of France. Steinmetz flew to Paris, where he stayed a few weeks with close family friends in a top-floor apartment on the Avenue de Wagram before settling in the south of France for a prolonged stay. ‘My friends were working in fashion and film, and I was told my bed had once belonged to Jane Fonda before she became Barbarella. The weather was getting colder, and they gave me a brown corduroy jacket that Jean Seberg had cried on,’ shares Steinmetz. The days he spent in France photographing all day are all captured in France 1987, a book published by Nazraeli Press that provides an intimate insight into Steinmetz’s earliest years as a working artist.

You can buy ‘France 1987’ by Mark Steinmetz on Amazon

‘Il Dolce Far Niente: The Italian Way of Summer’ by Lucy Laucht (Artisan, 2024)

‘My gaze has long been drawn to the human milieu of a summer beach. I love the quiet poetry of who we are beside the sea. I love the way a country’s maritime fringes gently reveal so much of the national character,’ begins photographer Lucy Laucht in the introduction of Il Dolce Far Niente: The Italian Way of Summer. Published by Artisan, Laucht’s debut book takes readers on the perfect vacation, showing Naples, Amalfi and Capri, Ischia, Aeolian Islands, Puglia, Sicily and Egadi Islands through her poetic lens – all while including personal recommendations for the best places to stay, eat and see. The intangible sweetness of doing nothing during a hot Mediterranean day, the Italian way of relaxing, is depicted by Laucht most beautifully: a splash, a conversation, the scent of sun on hot skin.

You can buy ‘Il Dolce Far Niente: The Italian Way of Summer’ by Lucy Laucht on Amazon and at Waterstones.

‘Japan: A Love Story’ by Michael Kenna (Nazraeli Press, 2024)

Japan: A Love Story is a new title published by Nazraeli Press revealing a new side to Michael Kenna’s ethereal black-and-white landscape work. Unveiled to coincide with a monumental travelling exhibition in Tokyo, Los Angeles and London, the monograph presents 100 of Kenna’s most striking photographs of Japanese scenery, many published for the first time. The English photographer first visited Japan in 1987 for his inaugural exhibition there and returned many times, resulting in thousands of photographs depicting his long love affair with the country. As Kenna puts it, Japan: A Love Story symbolises his immense ongoing appreciation and deep gratitude for Japan’s beauty and mysterious allure.

You can buy ‘Japan: A Love Story’ by Michael Kenna at Nazraeli Press and Amazon

‘The Package Holiday: 1968-1985’ by Jake Clark (Hoxton Mini Press, 2024)

The Package Holiday: 1968-1985, published by Hoxton Mini Press, taps into Brits’ love of sun, sea and teensy weensy Speedos during the 1970s, when British European Airways set up its ‘package holiday’ deals to Spain, incorporating short flights, hotel, all-day board and lashings of family-friendly fun. London Royal Air Force-trained photographer Trevor Clark was an Eastender who, having set up a studio in Soho, had become the go-to photographer in 1960s Swinging London. Clark fancied a few rays himself and spotted a gap in the market photographing the wave of newly established resorts in the Balearics, particularly in Mallorca. His images, now collected in a book by his son Jake Clark, not only captured the glamour of the location but reflected the ambitions of a generation eager to escape life’s social and economic restraints in a rapidly de-industrialising Britain – Caragh McKay.

You can buy ‘The Package Holiday: 1968-1985’ by Jake Clark on Amazon and at Waterstones.

‘Somewhere 2017-2023’ by Sam Youkilis (Loose Joints Publishing

For the last six years, Sam Youkilis, who today counts over half a million followers on Instagram, has been observing the world and portraying the beauty of the seemingly mundane through his iPhone camera. His first photography book, Somewhere 2017-2023, published by Loose Joints, is a substantial 500-page testament to his exploration of universal themes. In crafting the book, Youkilis drew from his current archive of video work, spanning from the project's inception to its development. Departing from the traditional photography archive, Somewhere takes readers on a journey through human behaviours, touching on diverse themes like unmade beds, the act of cutting, thresholds, dancing couples and gestures of romance.

You can buy ‘Somewhere 2017-2023’ by Sam Youkilis at Loose Joints and Waterstones

‘Tokyo Jazz Joints’ by Philip Arneill and James Catchpole (Kehrer Verlag, 2023)

Irish photographer Philip Arneill and American broadcaster James Catchpole set out to explore the dying subculture of Japanese jazz bars and coffee shops in Tokyo around 2015, later expanding to encompass the entirety of Japan. Their journey resulted in Tokyo Jazz Joints, a podcast, a photographic chronicle and now a photography book. The title, which has taken over eight years to develop, captures the essence of disappearing cultural havens and serves as a reminder of the delicate balance between preserving tradition and adapting to the relentless march of time. In essence, Tokyo Jazz Joints unveils a side of Japan often overlooked – a subculture that can astonish and thrill even the most cynical ‘jazzheads’.

You can buy ‘Tokyo Jazz Joints’ by Philip Arneill and James Catchpole at Amazon and at Waterstones.