We feature dozens of photography books in AP every year, so narrowing down just a few to show you in our annual round-up of the best is quite a tricky task. But it’s also a joyful one as it’s a great reminder that the publishing industry is very much thriving at the moment – as you can imagine there’s even more books that we simply didn’t have room to include.
In this list, I’ve tried to be as diverse as possible. I’ve included books across a range of genres and tastes, as well as those which include contemporary photography, and others which feature historic or archive work.
Over the next few pages, the books are presented in no particular order. It was hard enough to narrow it down to this list, let alone picking an outright “best”. That said, I was particularly struck this year by Lydia Goldblatt’s “Fugue”, a touching portrait of motherhood, childhood and grief.
But of course, that won’t necessarily be to everybody’s taste. Other highlights for me include Sixty Years of Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Best Face Forward and Calling The Shots.
We’d always be very keen to hear from readers about their favourite books, so please do let us know what you’ve been reading this year.
The Ocean Speaks by Matt Porteous and Tamsin Raine
£28, White Lion Publishing, 240 pages, ISBN: 9780711288935
Over 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, providing a home for 250,000 known species, as well as sustenance for billions of people.
And yet, the health of our oceans has never been more under threat, from climate change, overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction.
This book, the work of a charity called Ocean Culture Life, aims to raise awareness of these various issues and how they are being addressed. To do that, it contains more than 60 illustrated essays and stories told by 45 ocean experts.
Beautiful photography is a key pat of that of course. We get to explore kelp forests and shipwrecks off the coast of South Africa, accompany the divers who patrol the volcanic Ring of Fire beneath the Pacific, see sharks in the Maldives, rays in the Sea of Cortez, turtles in Malaysia and sperm whales in the Azores.
The book’s authors have done a wonderful job of curating this collection, and it’s as gorgeous as it is important.
Being There by Omar Victor Diop and The Anonymous Project
£39, Textuel, 112 pages, hardback, ISBN: 9782845979444
In 2017, award-winning filmmaker Lee Shulman founded what has become of the largest collections of amateur photography in the world. The Anonymous Project features nearly a million Kodachrome slides, which consist mostly of American family photos taken in the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. he subjects are unknown, but the situations immediately familiar.
This collaboration with the acclaimed Senegalese self-portraitist Omar Victor Diop is a work of genius. In Being There, Omar is cleverly inserted into a selection of situations as if he were part of the family. The presence of an African man into domestic situations in white, middle-class, segregated America creates a series of absurd and often amusing scenes, made even more so by Omar’s interactions with the people in the photos. But, beneath the surreality, Being There makes a serious contribution to the ongoing conversation around race, privilege and exclusion.
The project took over a year to complete, and the pair say the response has been “overwhelming”. It’s certainly one of our favourite books of the year – it’s rare to see such a work of originality that also manages to combine serious issues and humour.
Creation – Masterpieces from the Natural World by Harry Skeggs
£49.95, teNeues, hardcover, 256 pages, ISBN: 9783961415558
If you love wildlife photography, then Harry’s book is a masterful example of the genre.
The book is divided into different chapters which document a variety of species from across the world. Each section is accompanied by text from Harry Skeggs, describing more about the animals shown, the habitat in which they live, the preparations necessary for the journey and the photoshoot, as well as the artistry behind certain stylistic and photographic choices.
It’s this combination of words and pictures that elevates the book to our list of best books this year. As photographers ourselves, we often want to know what goes into a picture, perhaps sometimes more so than the result itself. Here, we learn that admirably sometimes Harry would invest months, if not years, of preparation for each shot.
That said, the results are of course stunning. Studying Fine Art at Cambridge is reflected in the clear influences the Great Masters have had on his compositions and choices.
LIFE: Hollywood
£200, Taschen, 708 pages, hardback (two volumes), ISBN: 9783836589598
This mammoth book – which is so big it comes in two volumes – is a real treasure.
Although not cheap at £200, at over 700 pages, the cost to page ratio isn’t too bad… and this could easily be the only book you need to buy to see you through until next year.
Covering the glitziest period in Hollywood’s history, which just so happened to coincide with the production run of LIFE magazine, this is a veritable who’s who and what’s what of big names and productions from the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Indeed, it’s the behind-the-scenes, documentary-style imagery here that I found particularly intriguing, more so than the typical glamorous Hollywood portraits (though I liked those too).
An absolutely gorgeous book with something to devour on every page, this is a must-buy for collectors and aficionados.
This Was Then by Mike Abrahams
£45, Bluecoat Press, Hardback, 160 pages, ISBN: 9781908457837
Spanning 1973 to 2001, through Prime Ministers Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major and Blair, this is a fascinating and masterfully created look at this era of British history.
Born in South Africa, Mike Abrahams moved to Liverpool aged 2 where he began taking pictures as a teenagers. Writing about this book in our 3 Sep issue, Peter Dench said, “it’s evident he’s moulded by the bomb-damaged, slum-ridden, impoverished environment of his youth. Driven by an unwavering curiosity, decades of wandering British streets to see what’s around the corner and behind doors of those living day to day in marginalised societies has followed.”
Each of the pictures in the book tells a story, but they’re also superbly composed and crafted. This isn’t really a surprise from the man who co-founded Network in 1981, an independent cooperatively-owned picture agency along with Steve Benbow, Chris Davies, Mike Goldwater, Barry Lewis, Judah Passow, Laurie Sparham and John Sturrock.
If you’re a sucker for monochrome, documentary, British history and more, this is an absolute must-have for this year.
Fugue by Lydia Goldblatt
£45, GOST, hardcover, 192 pages, ISBN: 9781915423405
When Lydia Goldblatt became a mother, she found herself unable to make pictures. But, when her own mother died, she started to take photographs at home and in the city where she lives.
The result is Fugue, a wonderfully moving testament to the extraordinarily ordinary, shot with love, tenderness and of course the skill to notice that which is worthy of being documented at exactly the right moment.
Shot on medium format film, the images have a certain quality that can be hard to fully replicate with digital. And more than that, not being able to instantly see the results of your photography gives them a real sense of slowness, of taking time, and intimacy that the rapid-fire of a digital shutter, with the temptation to try “just one more” often doesn’t afford.
The pictures are accompanied by text, which is beautiful and raw too. There are only flashes of Lydia herself in the images, a reflection here, or a shadow there, but the tenderness of her family life is beautifully captured.
This is a book which at first glance could appear to be quite ordinary, but if you really take the time to study the images, and appreciate them as a whole, it gives you plenty to think about and I found it very affecting.
60 Years of Wildlife Photographer of the Year: How Wildlife Photography Became Art
£40, Natural History Museum, hardcover, 336 pages, ISBN: 9780565095628
It’s amazing to think that the incredibly prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year has been running for 60 years now. How many amazing photographs have we seen during that time? Too many to count or mention, but in this fascinating book we get a glimpse of some of the wonderful pictures that have been competition winners and the stories behind them.
The first ever winner was C V R Dowdeswell for his image of a tawny owl, and it was presented by none other than Sir David Attenborough. At that time, only 361 entries were submitted – today there are nearly 60,000.
This is another must for anybody interested in wildlife photography, especially as it charts how the genre has evolved and changed over the last six decades.
Best Face Forward by Gerry Badger
£40, Prestel, Hardback, 240 pages, ISBN: 9783791393117
Now here’s one for all the people and portrait fans out there.
Curated by the always-excellent Gerry Badger, Best Face Forward brings together some of the world’s pre-eminent portraitists – from the early days of photography to the present day – to take a look at the thoughts, motivations, historical context and theories behind portrait photography.
Each of the images is accompanied by a short essay by Gerry, but, you can of course just enjoy the images by themselves too if you like.
With some of the biggest names you’ll definitely have heard of, along with a smattering of those you might not have, this is an excellent reference book which I know I’ll be coming back to many times when I’m looking for inspiration or information.
Calling The Shots: A Queer History of Photography
By Zorian Clayton, Lydia Caston and Hana Kaluznick
£40, Thames and Hudson, hardback, 240 pages, ISBN: 9780500480960
Drawing from the vast photography collection at the V&A, this book takes a broad and bold look at the history of photography as told through a Queer lens.
Spread across six thematic chapters, along with five artist-in-focus sections, we see images from pioneering LGBTQIA+ photographers (and their subjects).
With more than 200 images, we get explorations of identity, examinations of the self, what it’s like to live your everyday life as part of this community, and just a dash of fantastical fiction.
There are some huge names from photography and art here. If you’re keen to read more about the history of photography – and want to do it as diversely as possible, then this is an absolute must-read.
Magnum America: The United States, edited by Peter van Agtmal and Laura Wexlar
£125, Thames and Hudson, hardback, 472 pages, ISBN: 9780500544563
With all eyes on the USA this year during the Presidential Election, it was perhaps the obvious time to bring out this book.
This large-format, 472-page, epic tome spans the Magnum Archive from the 1940s to the present day. The result is a completely compelling look at the country, from sociological, political and historical perspectives. And then of course, there’s just some darn good imagey too.
Presented as a timeline, there’s just about every big American event of the past 80 years, with some of the world’s most lauded photographers.
This is another expensive – but expansive – book, but, if you love documentary and history photography, there can be few better recommendations from recent years.
Best of the rest
Gulag by Barry Lewis
£40, Fistful of Books, hardback, 128 pages, ISBN: 9781838186036
In 1991, during the dying days of the former USSR, Barry Lewis was commissioned by Geo Magazine to visit the Gulag of Siberia. The results of which are seen some 33 years later in this wonderfully fascinating book. Shot in Kodachrome, it’s almost hyperreal in its delivery. A real masterclass in documentary photography of a subject usually kept under wraps.
Camo by Thandiwe Muriu
£30, Chronicle Books, hardback, 192 pages, ISBN: 9781797230016
One of the most exciting visual artists working today, Camo is a gorgeous and bold book where every image leaps from the page. It seems unlikely that you’ll find anything brighter in our list, so if you want pure unparalleled joy – which also contains a message about what it is to be a woman, and to be African – then it comes hugely recommended.
Beyond the Selfie: The Art of Self Portraiture in the Digital Age by Rosie Hardy
£22, Ilex Press, hardback, 224 pages, ISBN: 9781781579381
Rosie’s creative self-portraits have gained her over 170,000 followers on Instagram. Blending elements of unreality with her selfies, her work strikes a chord with the audience because they draw on emotion from real life. An inspirational book that explores the modern fascination with the self(ie) and is lots of fun too.
Cartomania: Photography and Celebrity in the Nineteenth Century by Paul Frecker
£40, September Publishing, hardback, 480 pages, ISBN: 9781914613623
This one’s for all the history lovers. Cartomania charts the Victorian craze for collecting miniature portraits. It explores eccentric characters such as Rossa Richtor, who appeared as a Human Cannonball at London’s Royal Aquarium. A quirky, weird and fascinating collection that is not to be missed.
An Illustrated History of Snapshot Photography – From a Victorian Craze to the Digital Age by John Wade
£29.99, Pen&Sword History, hardcover, 224 pages, ISBN: 9781399079150
AP regular John Wade’s latest book shows off his encyclopaedic knowledge of photographic history, this time the “snapshot”. Wonderfully put together and illustrated, we get a look at the very first snapshot cameras, all the way up to the digital age.
Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood by Hettie Judah
£30, Thames & Hudson, 272 pages, Hardback, ISBN: 9780500027868
Looking at how motherhood has been depicted throughout history, as well as how mothers have created art in conjunction with their own experiences of parenthood this was one of my favourite books of the year. It’s mainly concerned with traditional art forms, but there’s a fair amount of photography too.
The African Gaze: Photography, Cinema and Power by Amy Sall and Yasmina Price
£45, Thames and Hudson, hardcover, 288 pages, ISBN: 9780500025390
If you’ve been keen to educate yourself on the history of African photography, but haven’t been entirely sure where to begin, a book like this is an absolute gift. It’s a comprehensive exploration of postcolonial and contemporary photography from Africa, drawing on extensive archival imagery and documents, as well as the photographers and filmmakers featured.
Still by Mary Jo Hoffman
£39.95, The Monacelli Press, 318 pages, hardcover, ISBN: 9781580936330
A culmination of Mary Jo’s 12 year project to photograph “found nature” every single day. With no subject too small or too ordinary, 275 of the stunning photographs from the projects make its way into this gorgeous book. An inspirational tale in so many ways, it’s ideal for those interested in still life and long-term projects.
Naturally, although we do our best to cover every photography book published, we can’t possibly hope to spot – or indeed – cover everything. So, if there’s something that you feel we’ve missed and you’d like to recommend it to other readers, feel free to let us know via the usual communication methods and we might be able to share further recommendation.
Related reading:
- The best landscape photography books for inspiration
- How to make your own photo book
- Books of the year 2023
