So after a decade or thereabouts, Martin Amis (not that one) has finally brought the curtain down on the Photobook Store Lists roundup.
I know that they occupied a lot of his time and energy, so thank you Martin for keeping them going for as long as you did. They will be missed.
However, the show must go on, so flying solo for the first time and applying the same self control required for his list, here are the dozen (or so) titles that left a lasting impression on me this year.
Ernesto Costante - Black (Intervalo Ediciones)
A powerful, uncompromising but ultimately quite beautiful and poetic journey documenting life on the streets of the Venezuelan capital Caracas.
Yorgos Lanthimos - Dear God the Parthenon is still broken (Void)
"Dear God...." was shot on the set of his recent movie Poor Things and features both cast and crew, with the luminous Emma Stone taking centre stage. Utilising the film's Hungarian built (and intentionally visible) film sets, Lanthimos draws us into a new narrative, as elegant and oblique as we should expect from the director of (the brilliant and unique) The Lobster, Killing Of A Sacred Deer and The Favourite.
Cloth covered boards, Swiss binding, gatefolds and warm luxurious papers. This is a book that is as beautiful as it is tactile, just as as you would expect from Void, who continue to release both stunning and stimulating work.
JM Ramirez Suassi - Malpariso (Setanta)
A picture of a handgun fashioned in silhouette from wire.
During a conversation, JM recalled an incident in which he was robbed at gunpoint whilst travelling for this project. Even during the traumatic experience he told me that the overriding thought going through his mind was "Take the camera, but leave the film".
Those are the pictures that will haunt him.
The answer may have been on one of them.
The hypnotic storyteller returns with the backing of Setanta books.
The genie is finally out of the bottle.
Hubert Humka - Eternal U (Blow Up Press)
Released late in 2023, I had been aware of Eternal U for some time but to be honest, I didn't "get it".
A book which celebrates the natural cemeteries that forests can become?
I understood it, I just didn't "get it".
Some books you just have to see and handle. You have to smell them and run your fingers over the papers.
Quite beautiful.
Awoiska van der Molen
- The Humanness of Our Lonely Selves (Fw Books)
An exquisite book, more than worthy of comparison to her magnificent debut, Sequester.
Masahita Agake - Roganfudoki (Sokyusha)
Managing to be simultaneously spooky, romantic and ethereal, this gorgeous Japanese title, by a talented photographer who is new to me, is without a doubt one of my current favourites.
Original and highly addictive.
....even if it is from the tail end of last year.
Ruth Lauer Manenti - I Imagined It Empty (RM Books)
I Imagined It Empty is not a book that announces itself loudly, it is possibly a body of work and subject matter that will leave some cold or maybe just make them want to move on, but the realities and inevitabilities of life can be prone to do that.
Ultimately, however it is the crushing reality of losing one of the most important people in her life that has provided arguably the most moving aspect of Manenti's narrative.
The following two titles are both from US independent Trespasser and both happen to be from its founding partnership team.
Matthew Genitempo - Dogbreath (Trespasser)
How do you make a book that is over a foot tall feel as small and intimate as a handmade palm sized jewel?
The latest release from Trespasser is a beautiful example of just that.
The visual poetry of Matthew Genitempo takes a universal subject (that of disaffected and abandoned youth) and paints a moving picture of directionless adolescence seeking its guiding light.
Bryan Schutmaat - Sons Of The Living (Trespasser)
If Genitempo’s current direction is an intimate study of home and community, Schutmaat’s is epic in scale. The intimacy is achingly apparent in the portrait studies but the landscapes are cinematic and breathtakingly dramatic.
If one is Bogdanovich’s Last Picture Show, the other is Wyler’s Big Country.
Together they are Lean’s Ryan’s Daughter.
Wing Shya - Solace (Dashwood)
The world of Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai has for some time been illuminated by the colour Rich photography of Wing Shya.
This is the first major western publication to celebrate his work in its own right.
Brad Feuerhelm - Orlok (Nearest Truth)
Published by Feuerhelm's own Nearest Truth imprint, it is a brave decision to make and release a book with so few images and no overt reference it its source material. However, as is the case here, sometimes it just isn't necessary. The title should be enough to speak to fans and the images, a perfect tone poem, abstract, oblique but ultimately as satisfying as a scene from a silent movie.
A shadowy, angular and unsettling silent movie.
Chan Dick - I See (Self published)
Initially presenting as a simple typology of painted walls in his hometown of Hong Kong.
The reality is far more thought provoking and sobering. The obliteration of graffiti draws parallels with the suppression of free speech and an increasing degree of control over the city from mainland China.
Comprehend the message and this work becomes an incredibly moving comment on the fragility of human rights
Stephen Gill - Variations On A Theme : The Pillar (Nobody Books)
Gill’s stunning reinterpretation of his own landmark book The Pillar.
Hand assembled by the artist, it incorporates 30 new original prints tipped into vintage music scores and adorned with lino cut and mono prints.
Every one of this 180 copy edition is signed and numbered by Gill.
For whatever reason I was one of the few not to acquire The Pillar but this very special art object required very little deliberation.
If still available when this list goes live, I advise digging deep and avoiding hesitation.
Mike Brodie - Failing
If Mike Brodie’s seminal debut, A Period of Juvenile Prosperity released in 2013, was a euphoric celebration of his carefree days criss crossing America by hopping trains with friends and likeminded travellers, then the equally intensely personal Failing is the examination of a decade of broken dreams and devastating loss.
Having acknowledged this however, one thing is certain, in a somewhat ironic turn, with Failing, Brodie has, in fact produced another stellar success.
Special mention - Cloro
Italian photographer Cloro is the founder of Latopaper, an independent imprint whose zines and handmade books have a dark energy and grungy realness that celebrates counterculture and the champions the voice of the underdog. As well as Cloro’s own work, Latopaper has published a number of exciting new artists as well as this year, releasing - the soon to be completed - Slack Trilogy, which heralded the return to the photobook world of American photographer Mike Brodie.
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