A Measure of Life: Coffee Moments from the Past Century

Coffee has a way of revealing life in its quietest, most unguarded moments. Published by Standart, A Measure of Life: Coffee Moments from the Past Century gathers 185 archival photographs from the past century, tracing how this simple ritual has shaped mornings, conversations, relationships, and rhythms across generations.

Curated by designer and curator David Miró, with foreword from Japanese artist Jun Iwasaki, our new book pairs iconic imagery with overlooked fragments of everyday life. Across three chapters: Patience, Pleasure, and Bliss—it moves through kitchens, cafés, caravans, film sets, and city corners, finding poetry in the ordinary.

Our new limited-edition book features work by renowned photographers such as Saul Leiter, Dario Catellani, and Sarah Blais, alongside anonymous and vernacular images that enrich its human texture. Cultural figures from David Bowie and Isabella Rossellini to Jim Jarmusch, David Lynch, and Chloë Sevigny appear not as celebrities but as participants in a shared, familiar ritual.

Printed in Berlin, Germany, on premium Holmen paper and bound in a woven hardcover, this 200+ page volume is designed for slow reading and long lingering.