A Dialogue on Spoons: Design and Photography – Jasper Morrison A Book of Spoons

From the archive of British photographer Nigel Shafran—whose artist books have previously been shown in an exhibition at IACK—comes "A Book of Spoons" (1997), a work by Jasper Morrison for which Shafran handled the photography.

Jasper Morrison: A Book of Spoons (Imschoot uitgevers, 1997)

Even those with no particular interest in interior design may have heard Morrison’s name or encountered his work. As an industrial designer, Morrison has created an impressively wide range of products, from major furniture makers such as Vitra and Flos to MUJI.

“Jasper Morrison is a designer based in London, Tokyo, and Paris. He advocates a unique design philosophy he calls ‘Super Normal’, characterised not by eccentric or luxurious design, but by what might be described as ‘the ultimate in simplicity’—functional design stripped of all excess.” (Excerpt from Vitra's website)

The ingenuity of Morrison’s distinctive design

Published in 1997, this book presents a collection of spoons Morrison gathered during his travels, spanning various eras—from slotted spoons to ice cream sticks.

The opening contains a preface that traces the history of the spoon, after which follows a steady sequence of monochrome photographs of spoons, all shot under uniform lighting.

Small captions placed in the gutter can only be read if you lean in close.

Beyond the curation of these distinctive spoons, the book’s editorial approach reveals a strong commitment to detail.

For example, not only the preface but also all the captions are set horizontally, with the entire layout from back cover to front cover (except for the publisher’s logo in the centre spread) unified in a horizontal orientation. In other words, the book is intended to be read with the pages turned vertically while held sideways.

Furthermore, every caption is placed as close as possible to the gutter, keeping the viewer’s focus on the visual of the spoon. Most uniquely, in the first half of the book, the photographs appear on the right-hand page; in the second half, they switch to the left. These structural choices clearly reflect Morrison’s uncompromising design ethos and aesthetics.

A Photographer’s Eye that Opens up Perfection

If one word could describe this book’s design, it would be “perfection”. Yet if it were merely a “perfect design book”, it would not have continued to captivate people decades after its publication. The element that opens up its meticulous design and allows for space is the photography of Nigel Shafran.

Although he is well known as a fashion photographer, Shafran began his career as an assistant to a studio photographer who specialised in still life. That experience influenced his artistic practice, resulting in a style that references painting while capturing contemporary subjects without simply imitating painted compositions.

The book was published two years after Shafran’s self-published debut, Ruthbook (1995). It is unified by a monochrome film style he occasionally used in his early years but which has now largely disappeared from his work.

This approach—photographing subjects under uniform lighting—recalls the work of German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, pioneers of contemporary photography. The Bechers photographed water towers and industrial buildings on overcast days, always using the same composition and presenting them in series to emphasise their differences. This consistent method, known as typology, can be considered a starting point of conceptual photography and continues to exert a strong influence today.

Blast Furnaces (The MIT Press, 1990)

Shafran’s photographs do not aim for the Bechers’ level of sharpness or detail, but by using uniform shooting methods to bring out the differences between the spoons, they clearly follow in the Bechers’ footsteps.

Another element that adds a sense of space to the book is the reflection on the spoons themselves. While absent in wooden or plastic spoons, in those made of silver or other reflective materials, the distorted image of the camera and studio environment can be seen.

Such reflections might be considered flaws in product or catalogue photography. Yet in Shafran’s case, they strongly convey his hallmark blurring of the boundary between stage and backstage, adding warmth to an otherwise perfectly constructed design.

A new world is revealed through everyday objects

From this collection of small spoons emerges a story that goes beyond mere utensils—a rediscovery of beauty hidden in the everyday and hints toward photography’s fundamental questions.

We rarely take the time to study a spoon closely. Borrowing the Bechers’ typological approach, this collection stands in direct contrast to the massive structures they photographed—simple, small objects lacking grandeur or complexity—yet still manages to reveal the spoon’s presence as something more than a mere tool.

What is photography that draws out the essence and charm of an object? The answer may not come from furrowed-brow contemplation alone. Perhaps, as in this book, it quietly arises from seemingly unrelated subjects, from the space left between elements of meticulous design.

Article by Yukihito Kono (15 August, 2025)

Title: A Book of Spoons
Artist: Jasper Morrison
Photography: Nigel Shafran
Editor: Cornelia Lauf
Design: Paul Elliman
Publisher: Imschoot uitgevers, 1997
Format: Softcover with flaps, section sewn
Size: 150 × 210 mm
Pages: 88
Language: English
Edition: First edition of 3,000 copies
ISBN: 978-9072191854

▶︎Click here for online shopping
https://www.iack.online/products/jasper-morrison-a-book-of-spoons