One look is never enough.
My favourite photobooks of 2022.
During the Christmas holidays I revisited my favourite photobooks of the year. I chose one from the shelf and spent time with a book each day.
Like good music benefits from repeated listens, good photobooks benefit from repeated viewings.
One look is never enough.
On the second viewing I notice more. On the third I understand more. On the fourth… well, you get the picture.
So here are my 10 favourite photobooks of the year. They are not in order of preference, but in the order I looked at them.
If you decide to buy any, they read best if bought direct from the photographer, or the publisher, or an independent bookseller. To make this incredibly easy the links are by each book.
1. ‘Life As It Is’ by John Myers
I like how he makes mundane 70’s West Midlands suburbia visually pleasing and interesting and how it reminds me of the 70’s East Midlands suburbia I knew.
Purchased from the publisher RRB Photobooks.
2. ‘The Island by Robert Darch
“Most people stayed… never leaving, perhaps content with the familiar or afraid of what lay beyond Little England.”
Brooding, enigmatic photos. His previous book ‘Vale’ was a masterpiece and this book is a worthy successor.
Purchased from the photographer.
3. ‘2’ by Eamonn Doyle
Fragments of passing urban life - striding, concrete, glances, slabs, shoes, elbows, drains, yellow lines, textiles and textures.
These are the kind of photos I yearn to make.
Purchased from the photographer.
4. ‘Road to Nowhere’ by Robin Graubard.
“I photographed the war in Yugoslavia, oil smuggling in Romania, runaways and orphans living in train-station tunnels in Bucharest, and a school for girls in Prague.”
A raw collection of photos from Eastern Europe in the early 90’s. The bravery required to be able to take these photos is enough, but the outstanding quality of them takes this book to another level.
Purchased from Photobook Junkies.
5. ‘Hafiz’ by Sabiha Çimen
“A coming-of-age story, a glimpse into a sacred tradition and a tribute to the young women who have memorised the holy Quran for all future generations.”
Photobooks can provide a window into the lives of people I wouldn’t otherwise know or understand. This is one such book.
Purchased from Charcoal Book Club.
6. The Unseen Saul Leiter
“… the free improvisations of a brilliantly attentive flâneur.”
His best since ‘Early Color’? Yes it’s that good.
Given to me as a gift. Available from the publisher, Thames and Hudson.
7. ‘Love Bites’ by Tim Richmond.
“To a small section of the Bristol Channel - a love letter.”
A sombre series of people and places hit by austerity and isolation.
Purchased from Photobook Junkies.
8. ‘What Happened Here’ by Tim Gander
“… this book is about waste: wasted land, wasted lives and the waste of consumerism… using a resource that is itself going to waste (expired photographic film).”
I haven’t included this because Tim asked me on Twitter where it was on the list (I was tweeting a book a day and had only got to no.5 when he asked), but because it is a wonderful book.
A photo diary of a neglected industrial area in nearby Frome before it was closed off by developers. The stories of the people who passed through the site helps this book resonate more.
Purchased from the photographer.
9. ‘Remnants’ by Marc Wilson
Abandoned fortifications, remnants of history, disintegrating into the landscape.
Thoughtful photos with the added bonus of a history lesson in a beautifully designed book.
Purchased from the photographer.
10. ‘Périphérique’ by Mohamed Bourouissa
Tense. Staged scenes in the Paris banlieues of confrontations, incidents, looks and frozen gestures.
This is my favourite photobook of the year. I don’t normally like staged photographs but these have an air of reality to them. I don’t think he would have conveyed the tension and the way of life without such clever staging.
Purchased from Photobook Junkies.
In memory of Marilyn Stafford
One final note. Marilyn Stafford died a couple of days ago. Her exhibition at Brighton Museum was one of the best exhibitions I saw in 2022. Fortunately Bluecoat Press published her first retrospective while she was still alive (in 2021).
Her keen eye photographed fashion, war, life in the Middle East and portraits of celebrities and world leaders.
As someone said more than once “buy photobooks not gear.”
Gear won’t necessarily make you a better photographer, but photobooks definitely will.
Remarkable work. Thank you! Am forwarding this to two amazing photographers I know. Enjoy your beautiful books
I love the books over gear advice. Great list.