Photobooks of 2024: Part I

It’s been a great year for photobooks with any number of notable releases.  The following are our pick of the year’s books that passed through the Photobookstore shelves.

In alphabetical order by author forename:

Adam Ferguson - Big Sky

With a suitably bold format, Big Sky perfectly presents Ferguson’s powerful long-term project documenting the Outback, depicting fading traditional events, shrinking small towns, Aboriginal connection to country, the impacts of globalisation and the adversity of climate change.  Available here.

Agnieszka Sosnowska - För

I saw a glimpse of this incredible body of work back in 2021, the impressive För, published by Trespasser Books, does it justice and then some. Available here.

Annę Rearick - Gure Bazterrak`

Roughly translated as Our Land, Gure Bazterrak is a tender gaze at the Basque hinterland straddling France and Spain, nestled between the Pyrenees.  A beautiful book that can only result from a long-term commitment and affection to a place. Available here.

Awoiska Van Der Molen - The Humanness of our Lonely Selves

Quite different from the photographer’s acclaimed landscapes, The Humanness of our Lonely Selves features a sequence of illuminated windows in the darkness of the evening in Japan.  Smart use of a continuous leporello presentation and a design by Hans Gremmen complement this delicate claustrophobic work. 

Bryan Schutmaat - Sons of the Living

A true monument of a photobook in every sense, Sons of the Living is a new American classic.  Look out for a 2nd edition in 2025. Available here.

Chris Killip - Skinningrove

Chris Killip’s haunting portrayal of a tight-knit fishing community in the 1980’s is some of his best work. Available here.

Ciro Battiloro - Silence is a Gift

A warm intimate series on family life in Southern Italy. A clear bond is visible between the photographer and his subjects in this affectionately captured sequence of photographs. Available here.

Greg Girard - American Stopover

Page after page of Girard’s trademark evocative cinematic imagery. Few photographers reach these heights, let alone create a whole book’s worth.  Available here.

Gregory Halpern - King, Queen, Knave

Halpern’s idiosyncratic vision of his home town Buffalo ranks among his finest photobooks, full of unexpected turns and his own unique perspective.  Available here.

Henry Wessel, Austin Leong, Adrian Martinez - Soft Eyes

I’m not usually fan of photobooks by multiple photographers, but I can easily make an exception for Soft Eyes.  It’s nigh on impossible to distinguish between the three photographer’s image such is the high standard. 1968? 2023? Quite frankly, who cares when it’s this good. Available here.

Read Part II here.

Books selected by Martin Amis, director Photobookstore.co.uk