Meet the Judges

Longtime fans of Joe Zee, we had a hunch that he would make an excellent Booktique Awards judge. His passion for print media and creative expression, and his legacy of making fashion accessible to wide audiences, all point to a person who loves richly visual, beautifully designed books. Suffice it to say, we were *not* wrong. Books delight Joe in the most Booktique of ways—as triumphs of great design, aspirational escape portals, decor statements, multi-faceted sources of inspiration, vehicles for friendship and human connection—we can go on. Or just see for yourself, below, in Joe’s own words.Thank you, Joe, for sharing your love of coffee table books with us!

Of all the books you judged, which one really spoke to you and why? The book Dolce Vita made me nostalgic—especially the film stills from the Fellini film. In the mid-90s when I had just started as fashion director at W Magazine, I was influenced for all of my shoots by film stills and movies. So seeing the film stills in this book brought me back to that time in my life. And it’s Italy and feels like a travel log—I felt like I was in the 1960s in Rome.

Was there a specific part of any of these books that you’d like to point out to our readers? Something you don’t want them to miss? In Keith Haring: Art is for Everybody, I loved the Polaroids, and the shots of Keith painting in his artist loft and going through the subway, vérité, documentary style. I loved those moments of the book. The faded pictures. The intimacy of those Polaroids—I could feel NY in the 1980s. It was like an escape. It felt like exploring a time capsule.

Did being a judge spark new creative connections or inspire new ideas you’d like to explore in your life or work? Yes, books always inspire me. I loved the topics of these books—the work of Ruth E. Carter, and Kelly Wearstler, and dance. Even more so, I’m inspired by how books are designed. It can be any book, on any subject, and I’ll be thinking, “Why did they lay this out in this way? How did they choose these images?” Those things all matter to me and inspire me.

What’s your favorite thing about coffee table books? Coffee table books are incredible pieces. I treat them like décor, but they are décor with an emotional pull. These books speak to me. If you could see my bookcase, it has hundreds if not thousands of books. Friends come over and always look at all of my books on the shelves. It draws them in as true home décor can’t. You get a sense of a person really quickly by looking at their books.

At Booktique, we say “Read Beautifully” and we invite our community to define it however they choose. What comes to mind when you think “Read Beautifully”? A place? A favorite person?A time of day? A color? A certain type of imagery? A specific book? “Read beautifully” is more of a vibe. It’s those moments of unexpected inspiration. To read beautifully is to find yourself being drawn into the world of a book’s pages, unexpectedly. Like when I’m looking around for something and then I’ll find myself pulling out a book and getting really sucked into it. It’s that moment when you realize minutes have passed and you’re lost in that world, in the pages, in an alternate reality. That’s when you’re reading beautifully.

What’s on your coffee table right now, book or otherwise? We have a 4-year-old, so we can’t really keep things on the coffee table. We have a beautiful round orb vase with flowers and we always have a rotating book and a bunch of toys. The book is usually one of my photography books (images from the 1930s all the way to recent photographers). It changes depending on what’s in my head at the moment.

What’s a topic you’ve been wanting to learn more about lately? I’ve been wanting to learn more about AI. But that can be done online. Physical books provide a different type of thing: beauty and joy and visual inspiration. In a book, I get layout, sensibility, I have an experience. On a computer screen, everything is democratic, all appearing on the same sized screen. You don’t get a sense of voice the way you do with a book. I appreciate the speed and democracy of seeing books online, but every printed book is a different size. The typography, layout, paper quality—it’s all different. Every book provides a beautifully different experience.

If you had to choose… Words or pictures? Words. Matte or glossy? Matte. Serif or sans? Sans. Brights or greige? Brights. Marble or terrazzo? Terrazzo. Music or silence? Music. Sweet or savory? Savory. Coffee or cocktails? Coffee. Movie theater or museum? Movie theater. Tulips or Bird of Paradise? Tulips. Grand Canyon or Central Park? Central Park. Order or chaos? Order.