What happens when one of the best printing companies in the world gives photographers the power to make their own photo books? I explored that idea as I looked through the new WhiteWall Photo Books. It then made me wonder why you’d even bother paying a publishing company to do books for you. Of course, they’ve got a lot of marketing power that you might not necessarily have. But if you have your own solid marketing platform, I truly think that WhiteWall is going to be the best option for photographers who want to make their own photo books. Trust me when I say that we’ve reviewed a lot of them this year. And also trust me when I say that these are something that I think every photographer would be proud of unless you’re doing a very customized job.
Very few photo books this year that I’ve seen really showcased something unique—except for the work inside. But sometimes, we want more. Sometimes, there needs to be a custom layout of some sort, a special size, etc. That’s not to say that the books weren’t good. They were, in fact, inspiring. But as I sit in my office and look through what WhiteWall gave to me for evaluation, I think that the quality rivals what so many other publishers are doing.
Book publishers also help with writing forwards; they provide insight into layouts, marketing, and sometimes distribution. However, these days, many of those things can be done ourselves. We’ve seen a few totally self-published photo books and found them to be really beautiful.
If you’re a DIY photographer, then WhiteWalls Photo books are genuinely the single best place to start. I say that after years of using Blurb for my own zine and book. This totally blows them out of the water. If WhiteWall had these years ago, I wouldn’t have ever looked back.
The books I looked at were of varying shapes and sizes. They all had a soft sheen on the otherwise matte paper. From my understanding, all of the photographers did everything themselves. If you’re a photographer with a following of some sort, this sounds wonderful. Seriously, you can’t really tell the difference between this and books made by many other publishers.
They’re properly called the WhiteWall Coffee Table books. But I think that this doesn’t do them justice. I don’t want these books to be just on my coffee table. Sure, I’d love to sit with some chai by my window and look at more of them. Calling them just coffee table books is an injustice though. They truly are photo books in every right. Prices vary, but many photographers might want to get the square books to have it suit a variety of photographs. You can also design a book using their online tools.
We’re giving the WhiteWall Coffee Table books our Editor’s Choice award. There isn’t a lot to say about them. They’re just as good as what notable book publishers make.