This year we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of our renowned listing of the year's best photobooks. To mark this milestone, we've decided to do something a bit different. We've asked 88 internationally recognized luminaries from the photobook world to choose their favorite photobook of the year. Their favorite book could be unforgettable for any number of reasons but the chosen books affected our selectors on a very personal level. These books led each of our contributors to conclude, "If there's one book not to miss this year, it would be this!"
Each day for the following two weeks we will publish additional titles selected by our distinguished group of photobook lovers. Subscribe to PhotoBookDaily to get our email announcements in advance!
Check back daily to see a new group of favorite books!
Alejandro Cartagena's Favorite
Text by Tom Griggs and Paul Kwiatkowski
"Through text and image, this book takes us on a journey of grief over the loss of a loved one, through the chaotic and rambling feelings mixed into the process. The book asks of us to let go of looking for specific answers about what "it's about" and drags us down a spiral of incertitude that slowly, like a movie, develops into an experience of the issue itself."
Miwa Susuda's Favorite
Photographs by John Edmonds
"John Edmonds' work is born from a unique mythology. In this sense, Higher could be considered the bible of his kingdom. Through the symbolic compositions of color and subject in his portrait series Hoods, Du-rags, and Tribe, Edmonds challenges us to consider an alternative perspective of the subjects presented. "
Collier Brown's Favorite
Edited by Russell Joslin
"Dreams are delicate and elusive. The bridges they form between themselves, one night to the next, are made of mist and drizzle. Nevertheless, they carry the weight of so much great art."
Laura André's Favorite
Photographs and text by Mary Frey
"Last year, I chose Mary Frey's 2017 book, Reading Raymond Carver, as one of my Best Books because it captivated me on a variety of levels. Likewise, her latest publication, Real Life Dramas, is full of beguiling images that—for me—are by turns nostalgic, uncanny, humorous, bizarre, joyful, poignant, and embarrassing. Some images are all of these."
Rafal Milach's Favorite
Photographs by Arion Gabor Kudasz
"Kudasz uses the human body and deformed brick modules to set the new hierarchy, which can be perceived as a metaphor of the shift in fundamental values that Hungary and other countries in Eastern Europe are facing today."
Nathaniel Grann's Favorite
Photographs by Nick Sethi
"Nick Sethi’s Khichdi (Kitchari) is one of the most heartfelt books I’ve come across in awhile. At first, experiencing this book can feel a bit overwhelming, as it is made up of hundreds (if not thousands) of photographs from Sethi’s travels through India and features a different layout on each page; nested inside, though, is a sincere look at and celebration of the country and people he has come to know through his work."