13 Picture Books Celebrating Photographers

In honor of my oldest daughter who will be heading to art school after gap year, I’m celebrating photographers in picture books. My daughter has been the force behind the photography of indigo clothing co., a company she started with her younger sister.

There is nothing like trial by fire to learn photography. She started out using the autofocus feature of her camera and took this shot which reminds me of old United Colors of Benetton ads.

Over the past year, she’s progressed to a better camera and learned how to adjust the aperture and shutter speed. Her goal is not just to capture the clothes, but evoke a sense of place, season, and laid-back style.

Like many of the photographers featured in this list, my daughter is largely self-taught. I had her check out Polka Dot Parade: A Book About Bill Cunningham, a photographer that I thought she could relate to. The book caught her fancy. Not only is photographer Bill Cunningham a pioneer of street-style photography, but the illustrations, to her, capture the whimsy of haute couture.

I am giving away a copy of Polka Dot Parade: A Book About Bill Cunningham by Deborah Blumenthal, illustrated by Masha D’Yans. To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom.

What books am I missing? Thanks for your help in adding to this list!

13 Picture Books Celebrating Photographers

Take a Picture of Me, James VanDerZee! by Andrea J. Loney, illustrated by Keith Mallett 

Like the small moments that James VanDerZee captured beautifully with his photographic portraits, this picture book biography captures the dignity and creative passion of this lesser-known photographer from the Harlem Renaissance. That he is not well known speaks to the racism that limited his career, but within these restrictions, VanDerZee produced the most comprehensive photographic documentation of Harlem.

Born in Lenox, Massachusetts and relocating to Harlem when he was 18, James’ passion for photography began at an early age. His gift was in capturing what was special in each subject, taking time to get each person relaxed and at his best. He also was masterful in the darkroom with touch-ups. His work was finally recognized in a show by a larger audience at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harlem on My Mind. Illustrator Keith Mallett attended the original Harlem on My Mind exhibit, bringing this book full circle. View more of VanDerZee’s portraits here. [picture book biography, ages 4 and up]

“Evening Attire,” 1922, by James VanDerZee, in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph by Roxane Orgill, illustrated by Francis Vallejo

Some of the 57 musicians featured in the photograph lived in Harlem including:

Duke Ellington– composer, pianist, and bandleader; lived on Riverside Drive and at 555 Edgecombe.

Fats Waller – pianist born at 107 West 134th Street

Mary Lou Williams – pianist; lived at 63 Hamilton Terrace

Count Basie – bandleader and pianist; lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue

It was quite a feat to pull off the Esquire American Jazz photo, just like it is a feat to pull off this free verse poetry picture book that so perfectly captures the excitement, chaos, and personalities of that momentous day. [poetry picture book, ages 8 and up]

A Great Day In Harlem: The Most Amazing Photograph In Jazz history. Photo by Esquire Magazine.

Image by Kwaku Alston/Netflix of recreation of the iconic 1958 photo

Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Sarah Green

Dorothea Lange had childhood polio which left her with a limp, but also a sense of empathy that shaped her view from behind the camera. Her famous photo of a migrant mother and her kids has a backstory: the family was stranded and starving after rains had destroyed the pea crop. Dorothea’s powerful image was published in the newspaper, and then the government rushed ten tons of food to the camp. Lange captured powerful images of The Great Depression and Japanese Americans in internment camps. She also documented the conference that created the United Nations. Read this inspiring picture book biography that shows the power of art in the fight for social justice. [picture book, ages 5 and up]

Dorothea Lange’s iconic 1936 photograph, Migrant Mother

Dorothea’s Eyes: Dorothea Lange Photographs the Truth by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Gerard Dubois

When Dorothea was seven, she contracted polio which affected her right leg. Her mother wants her to hide her disability, and she learns to be invisible. After her father leaves the family, Dorothea is the only white girl in a school of Jewish immigrants. Again, she learns to blend in, invisible, seeing the crowded tenements with her eyes and heart. She decides to become a photographer, discovering her love for taking portraits. When the Great Depression hits, Dorethea’s skill of blending in and her empathy for the poor results in documentary photographs that both define this era and convince the government to provide aid to those suffering. Her eye behind the lens helps those who view her photographs to see with their hearts. [picture book biography, ages 8 and up]

Children at the Weill public school in San Francisco pledge allegiance to the American flag in April 1942, prior to the internment of Japanese Americans. Photograph by Dorothea Lange.

Impounded: Dorothea Lange and the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment edited by Linda Gordon and Gary Y. Okihiro

Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams were both photographers who documented Japanese Internment Camps during WWII but with different points of view. Her photographs were suppressed by the U.S. government who commissioned them. When the war ended, the army quietly placed in the National Archives. Against the political mood of the time, Lange’s photos “unequivocally denounce an unjustified, unnecessary, and racist policy.” She was one of a handful of white people compelled to speak out and used her photographs to tell the story from the perspective of the internees. Her original captions for each photo are preserved in this compendium. [nonfiction adult, ages 16 and up]

Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jamey Christoph

Gordon Parks’ white teacher told her all-black class, “You’ll all wind up porters and waiters.” Gordon did end up working as a porter and waiter but he also spent $7.50 on a used camera and taught himself to use it. He vows to bare racism with his lens. His most enduring subject is Ella Watson, a cleaning lady in the building where Parks works. Facing racism himself, Gordon Parks is an inspiration of how one man and a camera can take a powerful stand against racism with an unflinching eye, and the will to overcome obstacles. This is a picture book that kids of all ages will benefit from. Use it with Gordon Parks photos for a Civil Rights Movement unit using books and Civil Rights Movement art. [picture book biography, ages 4 and up]

American Gothic, Washington, D.C. – a well-known photograph by Gordon Parks

Polka Dot Parade: A Book About Bill Cunningham by Deborah Blumenthal, illustrated by Masha D’Yans

“He who seeks beauty will find it.” Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham captured New York City street style before it became a thing on Instagram. His photos told stories about the people wearing the clothes and the times that they lived in. Riding around on a bicycle in his iconic blue French worker’s jacket, he always had a camera on him to capture fashion pioneers both on the runway, at fancy parties, and on the street. His work, which he considered fun, kept him busy until his death at age eighty-seven. [picture book biography, ages 4 and up]

Image from GeekInsider

Antsy Ansel: Ansel Adams, A Life in Nature by Cindy Jenson-Elliott, illustrated by Christy Hale 

Born of privilege and quite possibly undiagnosed ADHD, Ansel Adams had trouble focusing and sitting still. Miserable in school, his father homeschooled him, letting him learn piano, foreign languages, and explore the outdoors. When he was fourteen, he begged to take a trip to Yosemite, two days away. His family gifted him a camera during that trip, and Ansel went everywhere, documenting his hikes. He met and married Virginia Best who lived in Yosemite. Ansel’s photographs soon became famous and his work in high demand. His photographs depicted the grandeur of nature, inspiring viewers to visit and preserve these wild and beautiful places. [picture book, ages 5 and up]

Ansel Adams, The Tetons and the Snake River (1942)

Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs by Ansel Adams, edited by Andrea G. Stillman 

This book begins with photographs from 14-year-old Ansel’s trip to Yosemite and progresses by location and timeframe to different phases of Ansel Adam’s career. 400 stunning photographs in all, this collection of photographs is meant to capture his legendary photographic career capturing American landscapes. [photography adult book, ages 8 and up]

This Is My Eye: A New York Story by Neela Vaswani

Through Neela Vaswani’s lens, she creates a loving portrait of her New York City, narrated by her 9-year-old “younger self.” She explores shapes, colors, patterns, and people of New York with a viewpoint that lets everyone into her world where she notices the small miracles all around her. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

Be a Super Awesome Photographer: 20 photo challenges inspired by the masters by Henry Carroll

This is the perfect book to hand to a budding photographer. Instead of bogging them down with technical details that might turn them off, this book presents a series of fun photographic challenges and through this, kids learn how to take great photographs. It’s not so much aperture and f-stop as much as it is capturing what you want and learning to compose a great photograph. This is a really nicely done kid-friendly fun book! [nonfiction, ages 7 and up]

Imogen: the mother of three boys by Amy Novesky, illustrated by Lisa Congdon

Review by The Nonfiction Detectives:

“Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976) is considered one of the finest photographers of the twentieth century. Born in Portland, Oregon, Imogen was named after a princess in a Shakespeare play, Cymbeline, but she didn’t expect life to be smooth and easy and beautiful.

Dream, a 1910 photograph by Imogen Cunningham

Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide by Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña

To Graciela Iturbide, black and white is reality and color is fantasy. Her journey as an artist began after her daughter died when the camera helped her to capture death and heal her grief. Her life with five decades behind the camera is chronicled here in random order. Her photographs convey a sense of suspended reality, inviting a closer look and a discussion. In this way, her work is a visual essay that doesn’t shy away from controversy. Instead, she seeks it out. whether it is a ritual killing of goats, the nonbinary gender in Juchitan, or Chicanos in  A Day in the Life of America. With a combination of graphic novel panels, text pages, and photographs, this book captures perfectly the life of Graciela Iturbide. [nonfiction young adult graphic novel biography, for ages 12 and up]

Polka Dot Parade GIVEAWAY!

I am giving away a copy of Polka Dot Parade: A Book About Bill Cunningham by Deborah Blumenthal, illustrated by Masha D’Yans. To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom.

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 Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

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Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

• • • Junior Library Guild Gold selection
    • Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
    • Starred review from School Library Journal
    • Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
    • 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
    • Green Earth Book Award longlist
    • Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids

 Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me