In 1950, the master photographer Irving Penn began a landmark series of portraits that documented skilled workers of various professions. Called Small Trades, the pictures captured tradespeople of all kinds in Paris, London and New York, all photographed with the tools of their trade. Working closely with Penn’s studio, Abbott Miller designed a new book that collected, for the first time, all 252 prints from the series in one volume. The design employs an austere mid-century modern aesthetic and presents 210 of the images as full-page reproductions. Captions run at the top, allowing the images to sit on a uniform baseline, emphasizing the consistency of Penn’s approach.

As the curators Virginia A. Heckert and Anne Lacoste note in their introduction, Small Trades is one of the most significant bodies of work in Penn’s oeuvre. This edition is beautifully designed and produced. The designer’s invisible hand complements one of our most important 20th-century photographers with reproductions that are striking and memorable due to the high production value.