Turn your Street Photography into Book Printing
Key Highlights
- Street photography books present documentary photography as a complete body of work, not isolated images.
- The best street photography books showcase strong sequencing, turning colour photography and black and white into a clear visual testament.
- Long-term observation and thoughtful curation shape meaningful, cohesive storytelling in every book.
- Careful attention to layout, pacing, and sequencing highlights the role of place, context, and narrative flow in street photography.
- Professional printing at Ex Why Zed ensures each book reflects the photographer’s intent, with accurate colour, high-quality materials, and lasting impact.
What Are the Best Street Photography Books to Inspire You?
Street photography books often fail to reach their full impact if they are poorly produced. Common frustrations include low-quality paper that dulls contrast, layouts that are hard to follow, and bindings that do not allow pages to lie flat.
These issues make it difficult for photographers and collectors to fully appreciate each image and can turn a potentially inspiring book into a frustrating experience. The right street photography book solves these problems. High-quality printing, careful sequencing, and well-thought-out binding allow readers to slow down, study composition, and engage fully with the photographer’s vision.
From iconic classics to contemporary London street photography books, well-produced volumes let images breathe, build meaning, and leave a lasting impression.
What Makes a Great Street Photography Book?
Creating a compelling street photography book goes beyond selecting strong images. The best books guide the viewer through a visual story, encouraging careful observation and repeated engagement, making it one of the best ways to appreciate the art form. Here’s what sets a great street photography book apart:
- Intentional Editing: Each image is chosen and placed to support a clear visual narrative.
- Consistent Point of View: The book reflects a cohesive perspective, revealing the photographer’s unique vision.
- Thoughtful Sequencing: Image order emphasizes rhythm, pacing, and storytelling flow.
- Composition and Timing: Photographers capture decisive moments, shaping everyday street life into meaningful scenes.
- Repeat Engagement: Well-crafted books reward multiple viewings, revealing new details and narrative depth.
- Professional Printing: High-quality paper, binding, and colour reproduction ensure the work is experienced as intended.
A great street photography book combines vision, careful editing, and professional production to create a lasting visual experience. When crafted thoughtfully, it invites viewers to explore, reflect, and return to the images again and again.
How Can You Print Your Own Photography Book?
Printing your own photography book transforms digital images into a lasting, professional format. With the right printing partner, the process becomes clear and efficient, helping photographers showcase their work with confidence and creative control.
1. Flat Sheet Proofs
Before full production, colour accuracy and image detail must be right. Flat sheet proofs allow you to review full-size printed pages on your chosen paper stock. These are charged at £25 and would be printed on our HP Indigo digital press.
Key benefits include:
- Accurate colour and contrast review
- Realistic paper and ink interaction
- Final checks before committing to print
This step ensures your street photography prints translate accurately from screen to paper.
⚠️ Please note: if the final books are being litho printed, there will be a difference in the repro between the test sheets and the final books. This is more apparent when printing onto uncoated.
2. Fully Bound Test Copy
A fully bound test copy shows your photography book exactly as it will appear when finished. This allows you to review the complete experience before approving the final print run. This initial copy is charged at our cost price for producing your particular print spec and would be printed on our HP Indigo digital press.
What this helps you assess:
- Binding strength and finish
- Page flow and sequencing
- Overall weight and feel of the book
It is a handy quality check for portfolios, exhibitions, or books for sale.
⚠️ Again, please note: if the final books are being litho printed, there will be a difference in the repro between the test sheets and the final books. This is more apparent when printing onto uncoated.
Want to see your photography book in person before committing to the full print run? Order a test copy from Ex Why Zed today and ensure every page looks and feels perfect.
3. Choosing the Right Paper Finish
Paper choice plays a major role in how street photography is experienced. Different finishes affect colour depth, texture, and mood.
Available options include:
- Silk for balanced colour and reduced glare
- Gloss for vibrant, high-impact images
- Uncoated for a natural, tactile finish
The right paper elevates your photography book from functional to collectible. Silk and gloss give a crisp reproduction of detail whereas uncoated gives a softer aesthetic.
4. Free Paper Sample Packs
Choosing paper without seeing it first can limit results. Free paper sample packs allow photographers to compare finishes and weights before submitting files.
With sample packs, you can:
- Feel the paper thickness and texture
- Compare how images might reproduce
- Make confident, informed choices
This removes uncertainty and improves the final outcome.
Feel the quality before you print. Request your paper samples today and choose the perfect texture, weight, and finish for your photography book, zine, or portfolio.
Have you Zoomed Us?
If your inbox is starting to look like a long-distance relationship, jump on a quick Zoom with our team instead. It’s the fastest way to move a book project forward — we can share screens, point at paper options, talk through size/binding in plain English, and even hold up real examples from the thousands of books, zines and catalogues we’ve printed (and keep in the studio). You’ll leave with decisions made, next steps clear, and a spec that actually fits your content — powered by real humans who care about print, not a form and a few auto-replies.
How Has Ex Why Zed Helped Street Photographers with Book Printing?
Ex Why Zed has helped photographers turn screen-led edits into collectible street photography books by matching format, paper, and finishing to the story. Below are 10 real case studies with exact print specs for you to enjoy, note down and use as a starting point for your next book.
1. RU on TikTok by OK Cool
A RU on TikTok is a boundary-pushing London-focused zine that turns TikTok’s digital energy into a tactile artefact, using fluorescent Pantones and translucent pages to reveal “hyper-reality” through print.
Sixteen Londoners answer “RU ON TIKTOK?”, combining responses with photography.
Book features
- Size: 230 x 195mm
- Binding: Perfect bound
- Cover: 4pp, 300gsm Silk, matt laminated
- Special inserts: 2 x 2pp 140gsm Curious Translucent Clear (unprinted)
- Special colour sections: 2 x 2pp 170gsm Silk, Pantone 802 green, double-sided
- Text pages: 64pp, 120gsm Uncoated
- Print: CMYK plus spot colours
- Pantone 802 green on pages 3, 4, 14, 27, 46, 54, 69, 70
- Pantone 806 pink on pages 53, 59, 65
Cost Scale 💰💰💰💰
Save money by dropping the translucent sheets and Pantones.
2. Street Tools by James Parsons
Street Tools is a substantial, casebound street photography book built like a long-term reference, pairing a bold monochrome design language with full-colour content across nearly 200 pages.
Book features
- Size: 160 x 240mm (16 x 24cm), landscape
- Format: Casebound (Hardback)
- Cover: 170gsm Silk FSC Certified, wrapped over greyboard case, matt laminated
- Endpapers: 2 x 4pp, 170gsm Uncoated FSC Certified, unprinted
- Inside pages: 198 pages, 150gsm Uncoated
- Print: Full colour throughout
- Design note: High-contrast aesthetic, black matte look, clean typography, landscape layout for image breathing room
Cost Scale 💰💰💰
3. Across the Pond Volumes 1 and 2 by Mike Chudley
Across the Pond Volumes 1 and 2 is a compact A5 street photography zine that reads like a mini photobook, sequenced as a six-day walk through New York City, with silk stock and a neat square spine.
Book features
- Format: A5 zine
- Binding: Perfect bound with 4mm spine
- Cover: 4pp, 250gsm Silk, matt laminated
- Text pages: 40pp, 130gsm Silk
- Print: Four colour throughout (CMYK)
- Sequencing detail: Opens with Manhattan waterfront opposite “New York City – April 2025”
- Design system: Mix of full-bleed spreads and white-bordered images for pacing
Cost Scale 💰💰
4. The Little Book of Camden Passage by Gary Williams
The Little Book of Camden Passage is a London photography book with a premium, giftable hardback build, using cloth binding and foil blocking to match the character and colour of Camden Passage.
Book features
- Size: 200 x 140mm
- Format: Case bound (hardback) with 11mm spine
- Cover: Winters Binding cloth with foil blocking, wrapped over greyboard case
- Endpapers: 2 x 4pp, 170gsm Uncoated, printed
- Inside pages: 98 pages, 130gsm Silk
- Print: Four colour throughout
- Story element: Includes an illustrated map to anchor the location-led narrative
- Finish highlight: Red cloth cover with yellow foil for strong shelf impact
Cost Scale 💰💰💰💰
Save money with a printed cover rather than a material, foiled version.
5. If Nothing Changes by Jamie Keith
If Nothing Changes is a large-format, gallery-grade street portrait book exploring homelessness across London and New York, using black materials and gloss foiling that only reveals itself as light hits it.
Book features
- Size: 340 x 240mm
- Format: Hardback with Section Sewn Inside Pages
- Cover material: Black Balacron Spectrum Ismara, wrapped over a greyboard case
- Cover finish: Black gloss foiling
- Endpapers: 2 x 4pp, Wibalin Natural Black, unprinted
- Inside pages: 88 pages, 170gsm Magno Volume
- Print: Four colour throughout
- Design detail: Foiled title designed to “appear” at angles, mirroring hidden street stories
- Build note: Section sewing and head and tail bands as part of the premium construction
Cost Scale 💰💰💰💰💰
This an imposing size and premium coffee table book.
6. Bait Gritain by Bisky Rusiness
A Bait Gritain hardback photography book that contrasts gritty street and architectural scenes with a clean, minimal exterior, finished with silver foiling for a sharp, modern presence.
Book features
- Size: 235 x 180mm
- Format: Case bound (Hardback)
- Cover: Winter&Co Buckram, wrapped over greyboard case
- Cover finish: Silver foiling
- Endpapers: 2 x 4pp, 170gsm Uncoated, printed
- Inside pages: 138 pages, 130gsm Silk
- Print: Full colour throughout
- Design detail: Strong spine branding with silver-foiled typography for shelf visibility
- Narrative tool: Mix of monochrome and colour to shape rhythm and mood
Cost Scale 💰💰💰💰💰
7. Paris by Valerie Bower
Photographer @valeriej.bower captures stillness, shadow, and solitude across Europe in her beautiful new zine — Paris / EU / UK.
We worked closely with Valerie to print this 204-page journal featuring black-and-white street photography, handwritten diary entries, and fragments of travel ephemera. It’s tactile, cinematic, and deeply personal — exactly as she envisioned.
Book features
• 203 x 154 mm (8x6")
• Gloss laminated colour cover
• 100gsm uncoated text stock
• Black print throughout
• Perfect bound with a spine
From choosing uncoated paper for a softer look to handling grayscale artwork the right way, Valerie’s project is a blueprint for how to do photography journal printing with real soul.
Cost Scale 💰💰
8. Liverpool by Phil Maxwell
A glorious landscape orientation photography book capturing street life in Liverpool from the 1970s onwards. The USP of this book is the juxtapostion of the 70s and modern day life opposite each on the double-page spreads.
Book features
A4 Landscape Books
4pp Cover onto 350gsm Gloss
Gloss Lamination to outer
120pp Inside pages onto 170gsm Gloss
Printed in Black and White throughout
Perfect bound.
The gloss cover is engaging, the landscape orientation adds dimension but the back catalogue of photography is the winner here.
Cost Scale 💰💰💰
9. The 100 by Tom Lee
The square format on this perfect bound book lends itself well to both portrait and landscape photos. Gloss lamination on the cover adds instant impact but can be an acquired taste (Matt lamination is a more subtle finish).
Book features
210x210mm Zines
4pp Cover onto 300gsm Gloss
Gloss laminated to the outer
104 inside pages onto 170gsm Gloss
Black print throughout
Trimmed, collated and perfect bound.
Cost Scale 💰💰
10. Marseille by Ben Scrimgeur
A great overview of Marseille in photographic form. This print spec is a solid, cost-effective choice to get your latest set of images into print in a neat and professional looking format.
Mix up the layout with full bleed images and generous white borders to frame photography.
Book features
A5 Zines
4pp Cover onto 250gsm Uncoated
56 inside pages onto 150gsm Uncoated
Four colour print throughout.
Perfect bound
Cost Scale 💰💰
Need more inspiration? Explore our full photobook portfolio to see how visual memories are beautifully brought to life in print.
How Can Ex Why Zed Help You Print a Street Photography Book?
A well-printed street photography book brings your images to life, allowing readers to engage with composition, sequencing, and storytelling in a way digital screens cannot. Ex Why Zed helps photographers turn their street photography into high-quality books and zines that are professional, tactile, and visually striking.
Why photographers choose Ex Why Zed:
- Specialist in custom photography book and zine printing
- Wide choice of paper stocks, finishes, and binding options
- Accurate colour reproduction and premium print quality
- Transparent pricing and fast turnaround
- Perfect for street photography books, portfolios, and exhibitions
- Complete control over layout, sequencing, and materials
- High-resolution printing for detailed, full-bleed imagery
- Professional finishes that make your work stand out on shelves or in collections
With Ex Why Zed, you can design a street photography book that reflects your vision and ensures each image is showcased with impact. From test copies to paper sample packs, the platform gives you full control and confidence before your final print run.
Ready to print your own street photography book? Book a quick chat with Ex Why Zed to choose the right binding, paper, and proofing option for your project.
Final Thoughts
Street photography books allow you to slow down and study sequencing, intent, and visual rhythm in a way digital platforms cannot. From the best photography book collection focused on street photography of all time to contemporary zines, a well-crafted street photography photo book sharpens observation and storytelling.
For photographers ready to publish their own work, professional photography book printing plays a crucial role. Thoughtful choices around paper, binding, and proofing ensure images translate accurately from screen to print and create books that feel considered, durable, and truly collectible.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best street photography books for beginners?
For beginners, The Street Photographer’s Manual explains composition, timing, and the decisive moment. Classic works by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, and early Magnum photographers introduce the history of photography and help first-time readers to build strong visual foundations.
Which street photography books feature contemporary photographers?
Street Photography Now is a standout book that showcases modern voices and includes iconic images. Contemporary photographers like Matt Stuart and Bruce Gilden blend humour, tension, and timing, capturing everyday life across America, Paris, and major cities through evolving street and documentary styles.
Can I print in Mono rather than Full Colour?
If you are looking to print a book featuring images that appear black & white or monochrome on screen but are actually in full colour then this is a crucial video for you to watch, absorb and act on.
Battle of printing black and white video.
It can be extremely hard to effectively print black-and-white images in digital print. Thankfully, this isn't our first rodeo so in the video below we take a deep dive into how to get around this and why it is so difficult. This is an issue that you will encounter at every printer but at Ex Why Zed we are keen to point it out and help before going ahead.
Where can I find trusted street photography book printing services in the UK?
Trusted UK services offer expert guidance, proofing, and material options tailored for photography books. Look for printers experienced with colour street photography, consistent reproduction, and finishes that respect the use of light, paper texture, and long-term durability for professional collections.
What are your favourite street photography photo books?
The Americans by Robert Frank remains essential for its raw view of America. For layered scenes and bold use of light, Alex Webb and Harry Gruyaert define expressive colour photography, showing how complex moments unfold across cultures and miles for the first time.
Explore our full photobook portfolio to see how visual memories are beautifully brought to life in print.
Do you shoot or want to shoot street portraits?
If street portraits interest you, Bruce Gilden and Raymond Depardon offer strong lessons in proximity, confidence, and presence. Their work demonstrates how engaging subjects directly can still preserve authenticity, especially in dense urban areas like the East End of Glasgow.
Are there street photography books that highlight contemporary artists?
Yes. Women Street Photographers highlights global contemporary voices working in both colour and black and white, including talented street photographers. Alongside rediscovered figures from the early years, these books show how a new medium of colour photography continues shaping modern street narratives.
Are there any street photography books that focus on documentary-style photography?
Absolutely. The Americans, including Arbus, bridge street and documentary traditions, while Bystander traces the genre’s roots through Winogrand, Walker Evans, and Magnum photographers, connecting street imagery to social history across Paris, America, and post-war cities.
What are the best-selling street photography books right now?
Best-selling street photography books often include established names like Winogrand, Bruce Gilden, and Harry Gruyaert, alongside newer releases using colour street photography, such as The Suffering of Light by Alex Webb, which offers a unique perspective on Japan. Sales trends reflect interest in strong sequencing, contemporary themes, and accessible introductions for first-time collectors.
Which street photography books are popular among Reddit users?
Reddit users frequently recommend books that balance learning and inspiration. Titles covering the decisive moment, use of light, everyday life in America or Paris, and photojournalism are popular, with recurring mentions of Magnum photographers and practical guides for beginners.
Where can I find comprehensive lists of street photography photobooks online?
Comprehensive lists of street photography photobooks, which include the history of street photography, can be found on specialist photography blogs, museum library sites, publisher catalogues, and curated platforms like Amazon. These sources often group books by era, from the early years to modern colour photography, making exploration easier.
