Category: Books

photo-eye | BLOG: Record 2: Reviewed by Brian Arnold

Record 2: Reviewed by Brian Arnold

Book Review Record 2 Photographs by Daido Moriyama Reviewed by Brian Arnold “The first book I got by Daido Moriyama was ’71 New York, …

Link: https://blog.photoeye.com/2025/02/record-2-reviewed-by-brian-arnold.html

My favorite part of Record 2 is the writing. The pictures are superlative, no doubt, but there is something so rigid and stylistic about Moriyama’s approach. The short texts, however, have an informal, conversational appeal, like he’s talking to you on the train. In them we witness Moriyama reflecting on ideas developed during his friendship with Takuma Nakahira; things he learned from Bruce Davidson, Eikoh Hosoi, Nobuyoshi Araki, and Eraserhead; the COVID lockdown; and receiving the Hasselblad Award

https://blog.photoeye.com/2025/02/record-2-reviewed-by-brian-arnold.html

March 2, 2025
Benjamin Fargen: East Levee Road – LENSCRATCH

Benjamin Fargen: East Levee Road – LENSCRATCH

Made during the COVID-19 pandemic, Benjamin Fargen’s East Levee Road encompasses isolation, while exploring humanity’s discards and witnessing the interminable force of the natural world. East Levee Road is seemingly in a state of decay, creating a serendipitous through line as the work was made in the pandemic era. While it seems like this may have

via LENSCRATCH: https://lenscratch.com/2025/02/benjamin-fargen-east-levee-road/

Made during the COVID-19 pandemic, Benjamin Fargen’s East Levee Road encompasses isolation, while exploring humanity’s discards and witnessing the interminable force of the natural world. East Levee Road is seemingly in a state of decay, creating a serendipitous through line as the work was made in the pandemic era. While it seems like this may have been the right time for this work, East Levee Road did and continues to exist in this state outside of the pandemic. Knowing this informs the work at large and supports it with timelessness, giving the book context but not explaining everything.

https://lenscratch.com/2025/02/benjamin-fargen-east-levee-road/

February 25, 2025
Photobook Conversations #6 | Anastasiia Leonova: “This ecosystem is vibrant, but it is also insular” | Anastasiia Leonova

Photobook Conversations #6 | Anastasiia Leonova “This ecosystem is vibrant, but it is also insular”

Anastasiia Leonova is a publisher, art manager, curator, and co-founder of ist publishing based in Ukraine. Between 2014–20, she ran an independent art gallery in Kharkiv focused on contemporary art. With a background in Sociology and Art History, she specialises in photography and photobooks. Leonova is the curator of Mystetska Biblioteka, a project promoting contemporary artistic editions, and runs The Naked Books, a Kyiv-based shop dedicated to artistic books. She founded BOOK CHAMPIONS WEEKEND, a festival for photobook publishers, in 2021, and served on the jury for the 2023 Dummy Book Award.

via 1000 Words: https://1000wordsmag.com/photobook-conversations-6-anastasiia-leonova/

For us, every book we publish is a commitment – not just to the artist, but to the audience and the questions that define our moment. Whether it’s a local story in Ukraine or a conversation about war, memory and identity, our goal is to create books that transcend their pages, sparking the kind of engagement that can reshape how we see and understand the world.

https://1000wordsmag.com/photobook-conversations-6-anastasiia-leonova/

February 20, 2025
Jordan Gale: Late Night Drunk – LENSCRATCH

Jordan Gale: Late Night Drunk – LENSCRATCH

Long Distance Drunk is a collection of images that explore overlooked spaces and moments across America. From Deep Water Press, Jordan Gale has put together a series of images without a clear connection taken during his time working as an assignment photographer. The images bring the viewer in with their clear movement and emotion, showing

via LENSCRATCH: https://lenscratch.com/2025/02/jordan-gale-late-night-drunk/

Long Distance Drunk is a collection of images that explore overlooked spaces and moments across America. From Deep Water Press, Jordan Gale has put together a series of images without a clear connection taken during his time working as an assignment photographer

https://lenscratch.com/2025/02/jordan-gale-late-night-drunk/

February 13, 2025
What we’re reading #3: Winter 2025

What we’re reading #3: Winter 2025

What we’re reading returns for 2025 by picking up on works that expose the politics of narrative – how history, crisis, and dissent are mediated. From a critique of Max Pinckers’ colonial reenactments that obscure lived realities to a clickbait piece that declares photography’s renaissance given ‘AI becomes harder to detect,’ Thomas King traces docudrama, revisits Mike Davis’ urgent interventions on California’s wildfires, The Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster, and explores uncompromising responses to institutional narratives – or their reinforcement – via the furore surrounding Nan Goldin’s recent speech at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

via 1000 Words: https://1000wordsmag.com/what-were-reading-3/

What we’re reading returns for 2025 by picking up on works that expose the politics of narrative – how history, crisis, and dissent are mediated. From a critique of Max Pinckers’ colonial reenactments that obscure lived realities to a clickbait piece that declares photography’s renaissance given ‘AI becomes harder to detect’, Thomas King traces docudrama, revisits Mike Davis’ urgent interventions on California’s wildfires, The Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster, and explores uncompromising responses to institutional narratives – or their reinforcement – via the furore surrounding Nan Goldin’s recent speech at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

https://1000wordsmag.com/what-were-reading-3/

February 6, 2025
Advice for Young Artists – Photographs by Alec Soth | Essay by Sophie Wright | LensCulture

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/alec-soth-advice-for-young-artists

Alec Soth’s new book avoids straightforward answers. Set against the playful, chaotic backdrop of art schools, it delves into creativity, self-discovery, and the existential aspects of becoming—and remaining—an artist.

January 12, 2025
Joe and Molly pick Top 10 best photo books of the year 2024

Joe and Molly pick Top 10 best photo books of the year 2024

10 Frames per Second podcast provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of photo books, highlighting Joe and Molly’s Top 10 Best Photo Books of the Year 2024

via A Photojournalism Podcast for Everyone – A Photojournalism Podcast by Photojournalists for Everyone: https://10fps.net/2025/01/01/episode-131-10-best-photo-books-of-the-yea-2024/

The recent episode of the podcast “10 Frames per Second,” hosted by Joe Giordano and Molly Roberts, delves into the intricate process of creating photo books and how they selected their Top 10 Best Photo Books of the Year 2024

https://10fps.net/2025/01/01/episode-131-10-best-photo-books-of-the-yea-2024/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=episode-131-10-best-photo-books-of-the-yea-2024

January 3, 2025
Lisa Barlow: Holy Land U.S.A. – LENSCRATCH

Lisa Barlow: Holy Land U.S.A. – LENSCRATCH

I first became aware of the Holy Land theme park in Orlando when I saw Gordon Stettinius’ hilarious toy camera project on the mecca of all things Jesus. I finally made my own pilgrimage to the this sun filled hallowed destination in Florida shortly before it closed down for good in 2020. I had the

via LENSCRATCH: http://lenscratch.com/2024/12/lisa-barlow-holy-land-u-s-a/

I love how much I could compress into the frame in the Holy Land work. I think that in the work I make today, I take more images to tell a story. That may be the influence of the photobook. In the 1980’s, there were few examples of photobooks as narratives. Photographers showed their work as catalogs of images. Today, we use the book form to slow down the pace. We allow our emotions and understanding to build over the course of a book’s pages.

http://lenscratch.com/2024/12/lisa-barlow-holy-land-u-s-a/

December 24, 2024
Favorite Photobooks 2024 – Compiled by LensCulture | LensCulture

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/lensculture-editors-favorite-photobooks-2024

We reached out to photography experts from around the globe, and we asked them to recommend books that are their personal favorites from 2024. This year’s list of favorites features 34 titles, and as you can imagine, the range of topics and styles is wide and varied.

December 19, 2024
Photobook Conversations #4 | Valentina Abenavoli

Photobook Conversations #4: Valentina Abenavoli

Valentina Abenavoli is an editor, book designer and visual artist working at the intersection of photography, video, sound and text. She has led intensive workshops on photo editing and bookmaking internationally. In 2012, she co-founded Akina, an independent publishing house producing challenging photobooks by emerging photographers. Her first photobook, Anaesthesia, was released in 2016, followed by her second book, The Harvest, in 2017. Both are part of an ongoing trilogy investigating the subjects of empathy and evil. Recently, she co-founded Neighbour, an alternative art space in Trivandrum, India, focusing on exhibitions, publishing and collaborations.

via 1000 Words: https://1000wordsmag.com/photobook-conversations-4-valentina-abenavoli/

When I think of my life before working at Akina, I recall a fascination for photobooks that was raw and unshaped – an early, unrefined intuition that supported an imaginative approach without prior knowledge, in its mad and vast simplicity. I would pick up a book because of its cover or title, without knowing what to expect with each turning page. As I learned the narrative structures and rhythm of sequences, I took my sweet time with each book, and some stories, in all their complexities, would linger in my mind for a long time, unfolding in multiple serendipities and nocturnal epiphanies. It was a real pull, a magnetic one, that had been the primary subject of my thoughts for many years. That blissful ignorance is what I now miss deeply.

https://1000wordsmag.com/photobook-conversations-4-valentina-abenavoli/

December 19, 2024
Top 10 Photobooks of 2024

Top 10 Photobooks of 2024

As the year draws to a close, an annual tribute to some of the exceptional photobook releases from 2024 – selected by Editor in Chief, Tim Clark, with words from Editorial Assistant, Thomas King.

via 1000 Words: https://1000wordsmag.com/top-10-2024/

As the year draws to a close, an annual tribute to some of the exceptional photobook releases from 2024 – selected by Editor in Chief, Tim Clark, with words from Editorial Assistant, Thomas King.

https://1000wordsmag.com/top-10-2024/

December 5, 2024
Michael Rababy: CASINOLAND: Tired of Winning – LENSCRATCH

Michael Rababy: CASINOLAND: Tired of Winning – LENSCRATCH

Photographs are thought made visible. So in Casinoland we encounter not only the subject—casinos—we encounter Michael Rababy and his thoughts on this most complex subject. Is there a theme to Michael’s thoughts and work? Yes, it is to tell the truth. That is what motivated him and that is what resonates in this deep and

via LENSCRATCH: http://lenscratch.com/2024/11/michael-rababy-casinoland-tired-of-winning/

I enjoy going to vegas as an adult — not for the gambling (I don’t gamble). I go for the people watching. Everywhere I see the saturated colors and flashing lights, the luring signs assuring non-stop fun, the percussive sounds of chaos demanding attention, the poetry of losing, the art of walking away and the great irony that many don’t seem to be having the joy they were promised.

http://lenscratch.com/2024/11/michael-rababy-casinoland-tired-of-winning/

November 29, 2024
32 Photobooks for Everyone on Your Holiday Gift List

32 Photobooks for Everyone on Your Holiday Gift List

From iconic monographs to thought-provoking essay books, here is the ultimate guide to the best photobooks to give this holiday season.

via Aperture: https://aperture.org/editorial/2024-holiday-photobook-gift-guide/

Legendary photographers. Iconic monographs. Thought-provoking essay books. Limited-edition photography gifts. Here is the ultimate guide to the best photobooks to give this holiday season.

https://aperture.org/editorial/2024-holiday-photobook-gift-guide/

November 21, 2024
6 Photographers Reflect on Robert Frank’s “The Americans”

6 Photographers Reflect on Robert Frank’s “The Americans”

Dawoud Bey, Kristine Potter, Alec Soth, and more consider the lasting impact of Frank’s groundbreaking photobook.

via Aperture: https://aperture.org/editorial/6-photographers-reflect-on-robert-franks-the-americans/

Dawoud Bey, Kristine Potter, Alec Soth, and more consider the lasting impact of Frank’s groundbreaking photobook.

https://aperture.org/editorial/6-photographers-reflect-on-robert-franks-the-americans/

November 18, 2024
photo-eye | BLOG: Dogbreath: Reviewed by Blake Andrews

Dogbreath: Reviewed by Blake Andrews

Book Review Dogbreath Photographs by Matthew Genitempo Reviewed by Blake Andrews “Matthew Genitempo’s method has always relied on int…

Link: https://blog.photoeye.com/2024/11/dogbreath-reviewed-by-blake-andrews.html

Matthew Genitempo’s method has always relied on intuition. He approaches photo projects with no clear finish line in mind. Instead he settles in somewhere and pokes around, secure in the faith that his gut will lead him to photographs. Gradually he learns the lay of the land and meets a few locals. One thing leads to another. Acquaintances string together, rhythms flex, and passing moments deepen into portrait sessions. After a while he’s got a book.

https://blog.photoeye.com/2024/11/dogbreath-reviewed-by-blake-andrews.html

November 18, 2024
The long sunset: Daidō Moriyama’s Record | Conscientious Photography Magazine

The long sunset: Daidō Moriyama’s Record

via Conscientious Photography Magazine: https://cphmag.com/long-sunset/

Even as it seems clear from Record 2 that the sun is slowly setting over a life in photography, Moriyama’s true legacy is going to remain with us for many years to come. But you will have to look past the harsh contrast of the black and white in the photographs to discover the multi-faceted human being behind them.

https://cphmag.com/long-sunset/

November 18, 2024
Bearing Witness to American Exploits | The New Yorker

Bearing Witness to American Exploits

Peter van Agtmael’s images of war and domestic strife are arresting and almost cinematically spare, but it is the careful narrative arc of his new book, “Look at the U.S.A.,” that deepens the viewer’s experience.

via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/bearing-witness-to-american-exploits

Peter van Agtmael’s images of war and domestic strife are arresting and almost cinematically spare, but it is the careful narrative arc of his new book, “Look at the U.S.A.,” that deepens the viewer’s experience.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/bearing-witness-to-american-exploits

November 17, 2024
Gabriele Chiapparini and Camilla Marrese: Thinking Like An Island – LENSCRATCH

Gabriele Chiapparini and Camilla Marrese: Thinking Like An Island – LENSCRATCH

One must be ambidextrous in opening this beautifully and cleverly crafted monograph about a mysterious island by the creative duo, Gabriele Chiapparini and Camilla Marrese. Their creation, “Thinking Like an Island” , published by Overlapse, provokes the viewer to engage in a visual and mental jigsaw puzzle with psychological overtones. The book is a feast

via LENSCRATCH: http://lenscratch.com/2024/11/gabriele-chiapparini-and-camilla-marrese-thinking-like-an-island/

The book is a feast served á la carte or in its entirety depending upon the path you choose. Its layout consists of four rectangular mini booklets that can (and probably should) be viewed as a group in sequence revealing the mysteries of a lightly inhabited island somewhere off the coast of Italy (or is it?). You can never be certain of where you are, nor can you be sure of when, but the one certainty is that the island is remote but not remote enough to avoid an Amazon delivery

http://lenscratch.com/2024/11/gabriele-chiapparini-and-camilla-marrese-thinking-like-an-island/

November 2, 2024
A Look Inside the Titles Shortlisted for the 2024 PhotoBook Awards

A Look Inside the Titles Shortlisted for the 2024 PhotoBook Awards

These 35 photobooks highlight excellence in publishing across a wide range of topics and photographic styles.

via Aperture: https://aperture.org/editorial/a-look-inside-the-titles-shortlisted-for-the-2024-photobook-awards/

These 35 photobooks highlight excellence in publishing across a wide range of topics and photographic styles.

https://aperture.org/editorial/a-look-inside-the-titles-shortlisted-for-the-2024-photobook-awards/

October 31, 2024
HER2: The Diagnosed, The Caregiver and Their Son – Photographs by Anna and Jordan Rathkopf | Book review by Sophie Wright | LensCulture

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/anna-and-jordan-rathkopf-her2-the-diagnosed-the-caregiver-and-their-son

In this brave account of a family navigating breast cancer, Anna and Jordan Rathkopf turn the camera on each other. Capturing resilience, vulnerability and the tenderness of caregiving, the book offers an honest look at how chronic illness impacts all areas of life.

October 30, 2024