Yet another year has gone by, and while the world peace we were hoping for is still further away than it was a year ago, it is nevertheless time for us to present you with our new list of interesting photobooks for the past year. Our selections feature intriguing photographic content, brilliant project concepts, and 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 elements.
This year we feature reviews by the following members of our editorial team, all of whom are dedicated professionals who volunteer their time to create these contributions for our journal – Paul Anderson, Melanie Chapman, Gerhard Clausing, Steve Harp, Brian O’Neill, Matt Schneider, Douglas Stockdale, and Wayne Swanson. We think that these photobooks are especially noteworthy, as we engage with them again and again; so please take another look. We would also like to encourage you to browse all of the many reviews we published during the past year.
These fourteen books represent an amazing range of contemporary photography, and our team is proud to honor the photographers Shelby Lee Adams, Kostis Argyriadis, Amy Elkins, Tanja Engelberts, Harry Gruyaert, Thomas Kellner, Miro Kuzmanovic, Lee Miller, Bob Newman, Jason Paul Reimer, Smita Sharma, Sandy Sugawara, Catiana Garcia, Liam Wong, and Zindzi Zwetering. The book reviews are linked below the cover images as overlays of the titles.
Please also remember to support authors and publishers with your book purchases whenever you can. All the photobooks we reviewed throughout the year were specifically selected by those who reviewed them and have great merit, even if they are not all mentioned in this list.
We also want to express our thanks to all our readers/viewers around the world as well as to the authors and publishers for your continuing interest and loyalty, and to wish you all a peaceful and healthy holiday season and only the best for 2024!
Gerhard (Gerry) Clausing, Editor, for the Editorial Team
Here are this year’s selections, in alphabetical order by the authors’ last names:
Shelby Lee Adams, From the Heads of the Hollers.
A career-spanning look at previously unpublished work from his long term project documentary poor rural folks whose lives are often undervalued and overlooked.
Kostis Argyriadis, DD/MM/YYYY.
A fascinating study of everyday trivia and their possible implications for our lives.
Amy Elkins, Anxious Pleasures.
A delightful series of creative self-portraits created during the COVID pandemic shut-down that were then printed as cyanotype prints – a contemporary look back at the future. She humorously investigates portraiture that has an undertone of the anxiety blues.
Tanja Engelberts, Forgotten Seas.
Engelberts does a nice job of commenting on the forgottenness of a mostly invisible offshore oil industry while also nodding to our ongoing and very public discussion about the future of oil in a time of climate change.
Harry Gruyaert, Between Worlds.
Gruyaert consistently pursues unique compositions of our modern world.
Thomas Kellner, Kapellenschulen (Chapel Schools).
A Baroque swing treatment of these old structures, and a beautifully printed book.
Miro Kuzmanovic, Signs by the Roadside.
This project is an eloquent testimonial that obliquely speaks to the way hatred of the Other is promoted by images and representations. As Kuzmanovic’s book points out, the best way to get at “reality” might just be to let the fragments and traces “collide and merge” associationally, such that our understandings of the world and cultures around us are acknowledged as provisional.
A career overview of her significant photographic and artistic contributions in the male-dominated areas of early surrealism and wartime photojournalism.
Bob Newman, Shadows of Emmett Till.
A thoughtful reminder of the sins of the past and a hopeful message about the human capacity to learn from them.
Jason Paul Reimer, Excavation: A Journey Through Loss.
A wonderful commercial translation of a touching artist book as Jason deals with the loss of his sister. Previously juried into an LACP book competition by Doug and myself.
Smita Sharma, We Cry In Silence.
An impressive presentation of an international problem—human trafficking and exploitation.
Sandy Sugawara and Catiana Garcia-Kilroy, Show me the way to go to home.
As Wayne Swanson notes at the conclusion of his review, this reflection on WWII Era America prompts questions about “the current climate of intolerance.”
The photographs reflect a deep stillness and are infused with atmosphere. Stillness is a bit hard to find these days.
An excellent book that touches on a number of broad themes of public concern as well as being a resource – climate change, water crisis, inequality
Articles and photographs published in the PhotoBook Journal may not be reproduced without the permission of the PhotoBook Journal staff and the photographer(s) and publishers. All creative works and designs are copyrighted by the individual artists, authors, and publishers.
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