The List #5 by Martin Amis
The fifth installment in the regular feature, The List, highlights my personal recommendations from the many arrivals to the Photobookstore shelves. See also my previous 2017 selections List #1, List #2, List #3 and List #4.
Krass Clement – Dublin
Dublin is a typically cinematic sequence of images from Clement’s time in Dublin in 1991, around the same time as his classic photobook Drum. An essential purchase for any Krass Clement aficionados and an excellent introduction to the work of one of the finest photobook makers out there for any newcomers.
Mathieu Asselin – Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation
In this powerful and shocking book, Mathieu Asselin uses a variety of techniques to document and investigate the Monsanto Corporation and those whose lives have been deeply affected by its practices. Without a doubt one of the best books of the year.
Carolyn Drake – Internat
Magnum photographer Carolyn Drake’s third book is a sensitive poetic portrayal of the women inhabiting a Soviet-era orphanage designed to protect and provide shelter to girls marked as disabled. The book’s sympathetic design, beautiful printing and swiss binding perfectly complement the images.
Nobuyoshi Araki – Theater of Love
Echoes of Araki’s classic photobook Sentimental Journey radiate in this series of images shot a few years before in 1965. Originally published in 2011 as a modest softcover, this boxed new edition is both a striking object and a fascinating insight into Araki’s early years.
Masaki Yamamoto – Guts
One of my favourite books to emerge from Japan this year, Guts features Masaki Yamamoto’s extraordinary claustrophobic photographs of his family in their tiny apartment; a bold debut photobook from a photographer to follow.
Matt Eich – I Love You, I’m Leaving
An air of melancholy lingers in this memorable series of family photos by American photographer Matt Eich. A simple elegant presentation by publisher Ceiba Editions brings Eich’s evocative images to the fore.
Young Love by Ewen Spencer
Originally commissioned back in 2000 by iconic British music, fashion and culture magazine The Face, Ewen Spencer’s incredible images of youth clubs across the United Kingdom are thankfully finally available in photobook form.
Martin Amis founded Photobookstore in 2006, and is rarely more than 10 feet from a pile of photobooks.
Images: Krass Clement and Matt Eich
