This is something I’ve always wondered but never asked anyone. By photobooks I mainly mean photos of idols and famous girls and boys. I’m going to start with my own thoughts on this question and I hope you’ll all share something about it in the comment section.
To me, looking at photobooks is a way of doing fake time traveling, and by that I mean daydreaming. The photobook doesn’t necessarily have to be of a cute girl, but it often is, I’m a guy after all. But don’t get me wrong, just because it’s photos of a girl I’m looking at, it doesn’t mean I’m having dirty thoughts or anything!
The photobooks I look at are almost always of people that I know from somewhere else, they are often actors, singers or famous in some way. That way I have thoughts I can build upon by looking at the photos. I often make up a story in my head and just put myself in the context in some way or another, my role can be anything really. And that’s probably the reason why I like looking at photobooks of people I know rather than looking at someone who might be prettier, but makes it harder to make up a story about since I don’t know how that person behaves, sounds, walks and so on. I’ve realized that it’s easier for me to daydream if I put myself in an environment that I’m familiar with, not necessarily from real life though, last time I daydreamed I was in an hallway in tv yuuhi’s building (from Uta no Onii-san) where I met Tsugunaga Momoko. We took a picture together but I was interrupted when we were going to grab a coffee 
What kind of photobooks do I like?
I love photobooks where the model is natural and wears casual clothing. Extravagant clothing and lots of make-up fits better on the cover of a magazine or in an advertisement. It’s better if there’s a set of photos where the model wears the same clothes, and it’s easier to get a life-like experience if the scenery doesn’t change from a bed to a waterfall in two pictures. To name some photobooks, Kamei’s Maple and Ueto’s Breath have made me daydream countless times.
When do I daydream?
I can daydream anytime and anywhere really, but I tend to do it a lot when I’m reading books, and that’s one of the reason why I don’t like reading, since I end up forgetting what I’ve just read. I also do it a lot on the train/bus while listening to music. But my favorite time to daydream is in the morning when I’ve just woken up, they always feel very real at that time for some reason.
How about you? Do you daydream like J.D. (Scrubs) or do you not do it at all? What do you daydream about?
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most of my day dreaming is usually on the future or remembering a past event. Sometimes my imagination will get he better of me and I’ll go on an “Adventure” in my mind, but don’t tell anyone I told you that.
I think what it boils down to for me is that happy people make me happy. When looking at the photos, I think about how happy they must be. Even if only that happiness is only in that brief moment when the photograph is taken.
That sounds like something a lot of people would do, even I do that sometimes. But it makes me sad when I have to face the reality when my daydream is over
I like what you said above about looking for natural beauty.
I understand what you say about photo-books; I have a soft spot for Matsumoto Jun and so gazing at his wonderful face would be a fantastic way to spend the day. However, I really really detest ‘dirty’ photo books, where you have a model in a dress and WHOOPS! the wind has blown it up and you can see my knickers!! They really irk me….
Yeah I see what you mean. I don’t mind a few bikini shots as long as they’re not “that kind” of shots, if they’re casual and without the dirty look and whatever, I don’t think it ruins the overall feeling. Actor’s and singer’s photobooks often have a few bikini shots, but they’re not of the gravure kind.
I just like looking at the idol photos which are really high quality and usually feature exotic locations or fashions, my fave is Nozomi Sasaki’s photo book
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/nozomi-sasaki-photo-book-visual-young-jump/
When looking at that photobooks i think about anime.., don’t ask why ^_^