Once again we've asked internationally renowned experts and artists from the photobook world to choose just one book — their FAVORITE photobook of the year. Over the next several weeks we will be unveiling our photobook VIPs' favorites.
Check back daily to see a new group of favorite books!
Andrew Phelps' Favorite
Karianne Bueno
"To properly tell the effects, which history has had on Doug and his quest, Karianne weaves in found historical images, news articles and artifacts from Doug’s personal photo album; simultaneously telling the story of this man's perseverance at keeping the forest at bay and the relationship we all have to the wilderness."
Rob Hornstra's Favorite
Jack Latham
"Latham's work is about conspiracy theories on the subject of his own choice, to which he eventually contributes to his own work. I have great admiration for authors who deal with existing subjects that are difficult for photographers to access or to visualize."
Douglas Stockdale's Favorite
Louie Palu
"The pervasive use of Asbestos in manufacturing for many years has placed each of us is in peril and we need to understand the long-term implications of this dangerous material, and Palu’s book is one of the most effective books that I have witnesses to bring this message home."
Blake Andrews' Favorite
Gregory Halpern
"Gregory Halpern's Omaha Sketchbook is a sharp meditation on the American heartland, an homage to color contact sheets, and a bit of revisionist photobook history. All of which might be enough to make it my favorite photobook of 2019. But when that material assumes the form of a scrapbook glued to children's construction paper, I'm dumbfounded. A truly original work of art."
Elizabeth Avedon's Favorite
Hiroshi Watanabe & Lafcadio Hearn
"Lafcadio Hearn found his calling in the translation of these traditional Japanese ghost tales. With elements of Shintoism and Buddhism, Kwaidan provided universal horror themes including interacting with supernatural beings and women returning from the dead to seek revenge for wrongs suffered in their former earthly lives."
Christian Filardo's Favorite
Michael Lundgren
"Returning to secrets and decoding mysticism in the landscape. Lundgren breathes life into a tomb and raises the dead. Meditating in the moonlight and decoding data hidden to the human eye, Geomancy shows us how to listen. It’s a quiet monolith, an alchemic journey through sand and stone, an archeological field guide, poetry."
2019 Favorite Photobooks (to be continued)