Interesting Photobooks of 2019

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It’s time to look back at 2019, a very productive year for photobook publishing and for the PhotoBook Journal as well. By the end of the year, having enhanced our format to a full-scale magazine, we will have published some eighty photobook reviews, along with numerous articles, interviews, show reports, and announcements.

As is our custom, our editorial staff subgroup — this year consisting of Douglas Stockdale, Gerhard Clausing, Wayne Swanson, Melanie Chapman, Steve Harp, Madhu John, and Alaina Dall — has chosen a very select list of fourteen noteworthy photobooks that we wish to call to your attention, chosen from among all the other excellent work reviewed or about to be reviewed this year.

Our list this year includes: Nick Brandt, Keith Carter, Christian Michael Filardo, Robert Frank, Rohina Hoffman, Aapo Huhta, Sohrab Hura, Brenda Ann Kenneally, Letícia Lampert, Melissa Lazuka, Katherine Longly, Louie Palu, Birthe Piontek, and Dotan Saguy.

These are books that we ourselves enjoy and continue to return to. Our selections include books with intriguing photographic content, brilliant project concepts, excellent book designs that support the artist/photographer’s intent in conjunction with spot-on production qualities; the books that are the most interesting have a delightful combination of all of these creative, if not critical, elements.

Our list is also not meant be the “best” photobooks of 2019, but rather we have selected some of our more interesting photobooks that might warrant your consideration and time. Each of these has special merit, and we invite you to take another look at the reviews, which are linked in the titles below the cover images. Our photobook selections are arranged in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.

Our best wishes to all our readers for a delightful holiday season. Enjoy!