Beyond Words

Ansel Adams
Helen Levitt
Wolfgang Tillmans
Martin Parr
Anton Corbijn
Nan Goldin
Dorothea Lange
Bob Carlos Clarke
Dash Snow
Elliott Erwitt
Robert Doisneau
& Eve Arnold
For the last few decades, Beyond Words has offered budding and amateur photographers a chance to see and buy weighty tomes from legendary and emerging photographers across the globe. There’s a cluster of tables where you can look at the latest and heaviest books and the shelves are clearly divided into sections focusing on different genres from Portraits and Landscapes to Cities, Travel and Abstract.
Whilst I can appreciate most forms of photography, I have to admit my personal soft spot seems to be widescreen photos of scorched deserts and empty badlands. Clearly the owner of Beyond Words shares my passion for they currently have copies of Wim Wenders’ Once and Lee Friedlander’s America By Car. If you haven’t already seen them, be prepared to be blown away.

I just can’t let this place exist without my input. I love it. So very much. Why? Because I’m a hopeless photography geek and this place caters so brilliantly to my kind, to my people. There’s a huge range of photography books here, ranging from those by photographers who have a cult following to my all-​time favourite William Eggleston.
Not only do they have books, though, they also have postcards upon postcards upon postcards (I’m a postcard addict) oh photos by some of your (yes, your) favourites. They’re also quite good at keeping you posted on the photography events going on around Edinburgh, with an array of beautiful flyers that you can just help yourself to.
I’m not claiming I’ve bought anything there, even though I have a hopeless book and a hopeless photography addiction, but it’s mainly because I’m trying to keep my consumption of heavy objects to a minimum. But it’s just a great place to go in and browse.

I absolutely adore Beyond Words! It is a fantastic photography bookshop, which I didn’t really understand at first, but I have now been in several times to buy books from here. Situated in Cockburn Street, Beyond Words is right in the city centre and is just around the corner from the Royal Mile and so it is convenient place to reach.
They sell a vast range of books with photographs including the environment, pets, architecture, history music and transport. I love to come here and browse their fashion books, of which there are many, so I always have a field day! I bought the Dolce and Gabbana fashion album from here around Christmas time, and although it was really pricey (£100!), I am always looking at the beautiful photos, so it was definitely a good buy. Beyond Words also sell calenders and an absolutely stunning range of diaries, which include leather bound books with really thick paper — very nice! Most of the books are fairly reasonably priced at around £40, but the prices can go up to £200.
The staff are very friendly and highly knowledgeable about all the books which they stock, and they are always very willing to order in a specific book for you. Beyond Words is a fantastic photography book store which is definitely worth a visit.

Maybe it’s because my mum is an English teacher, maybe it’s because I love to read books, or maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for a good photo book, but Beyond Words just hits the spot for me!!!
The staff are friendly, the books are widely accessed and the prices are reasonable. The location is great too, right in the centre (ish) of town! They sell other things too, like diaries and pens etc. It’s essentially a edgy and cultural shop, they have everything and anything. I love it! I always feel really cool in here!

Beyond Words is a great photography book shop located on Cockburn st. Unlike many of the shops around it, I find Beyond Words to be both specialised and useful.
If you’re looking for photographic inspiration, pictures of landscape, wildlife, film stars, Beyond Words has a great selection of all these, in wonderful coffee table book form. I bought a book here on 1950s film stars for my Grandmother which went down really well! I personally really liked their books of graffiti art.
As all who enter know, Beyond Words is also a great browsing book shop and the staff are quite willing to let you spend your time doing so.
The only downside to Beyond Words is that is can be a bit pricey. The sorts of books sold are unfortunately the sort of arty books that can sell for a fair bit.
Word of warning: I’ve just heard this shop is closing down. So it might be worth checking out asap!

After reading the sign upon entrance to Beyond Words, they’ll no longer be open for business after the coming weeks.
In the meantime, there’s plenty of bargains to be had on an impressive selection of photography books and journals. Lots of artsy books and visual delights are strewn about the place currently and it’s definitely worth a good rummage through the books as bargain is waiting to be found.

Photographic journalism is seriously underrated and the old cliché is most definitely true– a picture tells a thousand words, and this place is choc-​a-​block full of stories told through the medium of photographs.
I was drawn to this shop immediately because of how completely unique it is. The shop name is incredibly apt and perfect for what the store sells. You can choose from a number of categories, such as Scotland, fashion and even graffiti art, and many many more.
I must have spent around an hour, maybe more, in here, just flicking through the books and not being bothered by anyone. I loved flicking through the photo magazines, and the art collections featuring Giovanni Versace, which were breathtaking.
You will pay a good amount for a book from here, but it will be a purchase which you will treasure for the rest of your life, a real investment of pleasure, which you can look at again and again just as you would with your own photograph albums. Superb.

What a great and alternative book shop. It’s one of those places you can spend AGESSS in just browsing though the photography and art books. That is if you like browsing through large books. This place stocks a great variety and even though I have never actually bought a book I still enjoy coming in here and looking at all the places in the world I want to go to and all the classy photos of stars of a different decade etc.

Brilliant. Photo-​books are one of life’s greatest things and while looking at your mate’s holiday photos is boring, looking at pages and pages of complete strangers albums that you have to pay for is a pleasure.
Picture journalism from all over the world is arranged, well, by location (obviously) and you can chose between the David Attenborough style epic photos or the more gritty, city life — especially good in the South Africa section.
Landscapes not your thing? Get on the biographies, I spent at least 20 minutes looking at one picture of Marlin Brando.
Classic celebrities not your thing? Then how about artists — Harry Benson and the likes are all ready to buy and take home and make you wish you could afford the real thing.
Photographers not your thing? Then there’s countless books of dressed up animals…
Cats wearing hats not your thing? Then you’re dead inside.