I have a secret love for scrap booking – yes, there I admit it. No not the kind done by millions of homebodies across the globe with supplies bought at craft stores. But rather the kind of scrap-booking done by the likes of Cecil Beaton or Tim Walker. I have always enjoyed the way these two photographers approach collecting images for prosperity and inspiration in scrap book fashion. These men combine images, paintings, hand drawings, and doodles into their pages. As i flip pages, I can feel like I am seeing into their creative process; peering directly into their subconscious. You can see what I mean in Cecil Beaton: The Art of the Scrapbook (soon to be released by Assouline) or Tim Walker Pictures .
Beaton revolutionized early fashion photography through the pages of Vogue magazine. He was also renown for his celebrity portraits in the pages of Vanity Fair; most of today’s celebrity photographers owe a debt to Beaton – from Mario Testino to Nick Knight. His photographs were always elegantly painfully composed – as if the subjects were made out of porcelain. This may seem a strong contrast to his love of scrap-booking but the both are exercises in composition. 
Tim Walker is a master storyteller and I appreciate his use of hand drawings and collage in this book – I often flip through the pages for inspiration (for events, for installations, for the windows I used to do for Holt Renfrew). You need to own this book. It is not his newest tome but I do prefer this one over Tim Walker: Story Teller.