Photobook Recommendations from Paul Lawrence of November Books

When Paul Lawrence was studying at St. Martins - a friend asked him to help fix a computer around the corner in a bookshop on Cecil Court. After arriving, the shop owner disappeared to the pub, leaving Paul on his own in the shop for the rest of the day. The computer was fixed in minutes, a few people bought books, and the owner asked Paul to come back the following day. He did - and that was over 20 years ago.

Although he explored other jobs, Paul always found his way back to Cecil Court, and for the past decade, he has been running November Books.

Is there a photography book you're looking at right now? What page are you on?

There are a few. I'm revisiting 'A Scene In Between' compiled by Sam Knee. It's a compilation of photographs of UK indie/c86 bands and the small scene around them. I'm also having a deep trawl through “Ladies Bosozoqu", it's quite rare and I haven't had a copy for years so was happy to get one in trade last week. It's not strictly a photography book, but it does make extensive use of borrowed photographs, which is a lot of fun.

What photography book do you most often recommend to customers and why?

There isn't really a one-size-fits-all recommendation, I have my own favourites, and people come to see me for all sorts of reasons, with all sorts of tastes. A large number of my regulars are stylists though – and if they don't already have a copy they always walk away with Russen by Nathaniel Farb. It's a very straightforward and great book that has a really interesting story behind it too.


What sort of work do you like to publish? How do you find it and how do you choose?

I am a second-hand shop rather than a publisher, but some years back I reissued a book called 'Secret Signals'. It's an early 80s guide to L.A. hand signs and part of a much deeper and wider culture that's too much to document here, but I had a copy in my hand, liked it, and thought more copies should exist. Luckily I found the rights holder and we came to an agreement. Look it up and you'll fall into a wormhole of late 70s / early 80s chicano / lowrider culture!


What is the last photograph you took? Can you share it with us?

I don't take photographs, it's something I'm really terrible at, so bad it's comical. I'm the guy that makes portraits of people's shoulders, feet, shots with a giant finger in them and so on. I do use the camera on a telephone as a notebook though, here's my last shot – I needed to remember what side of a shoulder on a shirt is stitched first.

Do you take pictures aside from your phone? If so, what camera do you use and why?

See above! At Art school we had to shoot all of our work on slide film for portfolios, and that was the last time I used a real camera I think.


Can you send us a photograph of something that represents an important moment or memory of yours that's related to your book collection?

I've just received a collection of early Walter Pfeiffer ephemera, I've been a big fan of the early work since I started selling books, so this is pretty special stuff for me. A retired bookseller in Zurich found this in a drawer in his house and sent me a message asking if I wanted it. I paid him a little for it all but really it's a great gift.

How did your childhood inform what you do today? Did you grow up surrounded by art / books?

My parents were teenagers when they had me, and didn't really read much, I would say music was much more important. Our house had only a handful of books in it, besides what we as children got from the library. It's not that they were anti-book, it just wasn't part of the culture we grew up with. Books were admired, but essentially considered to be for boffins or posh people. But, like a lot of people who grew up in small towns and villages and then left, books for me were a window into another, more interesting life, and my parents didn't discourage that. It's a great way to feed a curiosity about the world, which I think you either have or you don't. The same could be said for cinema, records and any type of culture you can access anywhere. That's the best side of a shop really, talking to people who are genuinely interested in the world around them and finding new things out about it.


What would you be doing if you weren't running November Books?

I would still be researching and looking for things, just not necessarily selling them. I make clothes too, pretty badly, but I do enjoy it.

Appointments can be made via email to visit November Books at:

7 Cecil Court
London
WC2N 4EZ