Photography Art Books

1207A new installment in Miles Aldridge's ongoing homage to, and plea for the revival of, Polaroid film

The sequel to Miles Aldridge's (born 1964) Please Return Polaroid (2016), this book presents new and vintage Polaroids from the British photographer's more than 20-year archive, in a seemingly random sequence shaped by a dreamlike logic and surprising juxtapositions.

Please Please Return Polaroid explores Aldridge's dedication to analogue processes where cut-and-paste is still a manual process, made with scissors, gaffer tape, intuition and not a little patience. Aldridge continues to use Polaroids as part of his work-in-progress “sketches,” often scratching, tearing and taping them together, even drawing over them; each mark part of the creative act.

Known for creating immaculate photos of a less than perfect world, Aldridge revels in these unpolished images, transforming some into extreme enlargements filling double pages with their reworked and damaged surfaces.

1292A newly expanded edition of Sternfeld’s popular portrayal of the High Line’s early days.

With nine additional photos, a larger format and an expanded, up-to-date timeline, this is the new and revised edition of Joel Sternfeld’s Walking the High Line, which documents the overgrown elevated freight rail line above New York’s West Side before it was transformed into the cherished High Line public park in 2009.

In the dark days following the September 11 attacks in New York in 2001, Joel Sternfeld came to Gerhard Steidl with the hope of quickly making a book. For the previous two years Sternfeld had been photographing the abandoned railroad and working with a group, the Friends of the High Line, that wanted to save it and turn it into a park. Powerful real estate and political interests seeking to tear it down and commercially develop the land beneath it were using the chaos of the period to rush forward their plans. Steidl agreed―six weeks later there were finished books in New York. It was a small volume but it played a crucial role in allowing New Yorkers to see for the first time the beauty of a secret railroad in all the seasons.

Like the photographs made by William Henry Jackson in the 1870s of Yellowstone that led Congress to establish a national park, the pictures proved pivotal in the making of the High Line’s reputation.

1318South African photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa (born 1995) began this project after finding a family portrait with his sister Ziyanda’s face cut out. He describes her as a secretive, rebellious and rough presence and recalls the dark day when she chased him and he was hit by a car: she disappeared hours later and returned only a decade later, ill. By this time, Sobekwa had become a photographer and realized the family had no picture of her. However, Ziyanda died before he could photograph her.

Employing a scrapbook aesthetic with handwritten notes, I Carry Her Photo with Me is a means for Sobekwa to engage both with the memory of his sister and the wider implications of such disappearances―a troubling part of South Africa’s history. The book complements his wider work on fragmentation, poverty and the long-reaching ramifications of apartheid and colonialism across all levels of South African society.

1324Macadam Paname is the first book of Laurent Delhourme. This editorial project is the culmination of many years spent capturing the strangeness of reality in the streets of the French capital. The photographs concentrate humor, burlesque situations, and incongruities of everyday life. If the photographer takes care of his frames, by choice, he never designs a production. He is sure that the behavior of passers-by is interesting enough to let them express themselves in their entirety.

He grabs his images on the fly. Instantaneity is his motto. He plays with street furniture, light, and movement always in a benevolent state of mind.

1124In this new edition of London, including previously unpublished photographs and visual references, Sergio Larrain presents a powerful portrait of a city on the brink of a new era.

In the winter of 1958, Sergio Larrain traveled to London. He spent just a few months there, photographing subjects that interested him and embracing the shadows of the city. In the cold and damp, his images captured a tangible darkness in which he could 'materialize that world of phantoms.' A few years later, he joined Magnum Photos and set off around the world, before retiring to the Chilean countryside and leaving photography behind.

The book also features a text by the late Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño - written in 1999 specifically to accompany these images - as well as a new essay by Agnès Sire, artistic director of Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, detailing Larrain's stay in London.

416The legendary photojournalist's early '80s New York photographs, published alongside his autobiographical musings in an elegant clothbound edition

From 1979 to 1986, the city of New York functioned as a kind of refuge for photographer Frank Horvat (born 1928). Born in present-day Croatia, for years Horvat lived and worked rather nomadically, traveling extensively through Asia and Europe on photojournalist excursions with a brief stopover in Paris where he shot fashion photography for Jardins de Mode and Elle. Eventually he found himself in New York; during this period, he allowed himself to surrender to the daily hustle and bustle of the city streets. In between commissions, Horvat created a prolific series of photography and writing that was not intended for public consumption, instead functioning as a reflection upon his own craft as well as the significance of photography itself.

Frank Horvat: Side Walk publishes many of these photographs for the first time alongside the photographer's writing. The elegant presentation of this clothbound volume is representative of the great pride that Horvat took in the creation of his personal projects as well as his professional pursuits: the photojournalist's texts are published on thin Munken offset paper and his photographs are printed on deep matte photo paper. This publication is both a compelling depiction of a beloved city and a portrait of the sensitive man behind the camera.

480Let legendary fashion and portrait photographer Albert Watson guide you through how he captures his amazing images. In a series of bite-sized lessons Watson unveils the stories behind his most-famous shots and gives you the inspiration, tips and ideas to take into your own photography – from how to work with lighting and lenses, to learning to embrace your creativity and advice on getting your foot in the industry door. Illustrated throughout with key images from Watson's incredible 50-year career at the forefront of photography.

86 UNPERSON is one of the first photo books of North Korean Defectors. In George Orwell’s 1984, an unperson is someone who has been vaporized, whose record has been erased. As each defector begins their new life, they all start out as an UNPERSON. The 15 intimate portraits tell the stories of the brave people who decided to take the chance to flee to South Korea.

The road to South Korea is dangerous and can take years with the many different borders of Mongolia, Laos, Thailand and China. The people fleeing are filled with the fear of being arrested and sent back to labour camps. Once they arrive in South Korea, they often struggle to find a new identity: Lost between their North Korean past and South Korean future.

242The images are framed around the silhouettes of people and animals. Though many London landmarks feature including Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the statue of Winston Churchill depicted alongside Big Ben, they are presented in a surprising and very particular way. The work was first exhibited at The Photographers Gallery in 2014.

242This series was commissioned by the Deichtorhallen and was shown for the first time at the Hamburg Triennial of Photography in 2015. It is currently on a tour to several European cities.

1163Twenty-three enticing projects help inspire a process of discovery and new ways of telling stories and animating ideas. Eyes Open features photographs by young people from around the globe, as well as work by professional artists that demonstrates how a simple idea can be expanded. Playful and meaningful, this book is for young would-be photographers and those interested in expressing themselves creatively.

1171Mincéirs are a traditionally nomadic ethnic minority indigenous to Ireland, referred to by the Irish Government and the settled population as Irish Travellers. The Mincéir is a true name of the Irish travelling community in their own language which is called Cant or Gammon. Although the Irish Travellers speak English, the lingo they use amongst each other at times is Cant/Gammon. The name Traveller was put upon them because of their nomadic identity. Back in the 5th century the term these groups of people were called Whitesmiths because of their association and skills as tin-smithing. Over the years the Irish Travellers have been called Tinkers, Knackers and Gyspy by some of the settled population which the Irish Travellers have found very offensive and racial. Any settled person who is not racist would use the term Irish Traveller or Travellers which is politically correct. Unfortunately many of the Irish Travellers are subjected to the continuous use of these offensive labels.

660Natalie Christensen has shown her work in exhibitions around the world, including London, Berlin, New York and Los Angeles. She was recently named one of "ten photographers to watch" at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art. Her photographs are in the permanent collections of museums and institutions as well as numerous private collections. When natalie isn’t looking for photos behind forgotten shopping centers you can find her checking her instagram feed while hiking the mountains around Santa Fe.

TBW Books is excited to present the seventh installment of our Annual Series. This year, four artists were invited to approach the concept of the human form. Implementing stylistically distinct approaches, each book works to challenge the artist's own practice, making room for discovery within not only their own oeuvre but within the language of photography itself.
While each book is thought of as a stand-alone title, an undeniable dialogue is shared between all four when presented together, allowing viewers to experience the collection as a singular photographic meditation.

The San Quentin Project collects a largely unseen visual record of daily life inside one of America's oldest and largest prisons, demonstrating how this archive of the state is now being used to teach visual literacy and process the experience of incarceration.

In 2011, Nigel Poor - artist, educator, and cocreator of the acclaimed podcast Ear Hustle―began teaching a history of photography class through the Prison University Project at San Quentin State Prison. Neither books nor cameras were allowed into the facility, so an unorthodox course with a range of inventivemapping exercises ensued: students crafted "verbal photographs" of memories for which they had no visual documentation, and annotated iconic images from different artists. After the first semester, Poor says, "one student told me he could now see fascination everywhere in San Quentin."

When Poor received access to thousands of negatives in the prison's archive, made by corrections officers of a former era, these images of San Quentin's everyday occurrences soon became launchpads for her students' keen observations. From the banal to the brutal, to distinct moments of respite, the pictures in this archive gave those who were involved in the project the opportunity to share their stories and reflections on incarceration.

58Sebastião Salgado traveled the Brazilian Amazon and photographed the unparalleled beauty of this extraordinary region for six years: the forest, the rivers, the mountains, the people who live there - an irreplaceable treasure of humanity.

In the book's foreword Salgado writes: "For me, it is the last frontier, a mysterious universe of its own, where the immense power of nature can be felt as nowhere else on earth. Here is a forest stretching to infinity that contains one-tenth of all living plant and animal species, the world's largest single natural laboratory."

Salgado visited a dozen indigenous tribes that exist in small communities scattered across the largest tropical rainforest in the world. He documented the daily life of the Yanomami, the Asháninka, the Yawanawá, the Suruwahá, the Zo'é, the Kuikuro, the Waurá, the Kamayurá, the Korubo, the Marubo, the Awá, and the Macuxi - their warm family bonds, their hunting and fishing, the manner in which they prepare and share meals, their marvelous talent for painting their faces and bodies, the significance of their shamans, and their dances and rituals.

Sebastião Salgado has dedicated this book to the indigenous peoples of Brazil's Amazon region: "My wish, with all my heart, with all my energy, with all the passion I possess, is that in 50 years' time this book will not resemble a record of a lost world. Amazônia must live on."Soon available in a Collector's Edition including a bookstand designed by Renzo Piano and four Art Editions, each including the Renzo Piano bookstand and a signed print.

1206Archive, Matrix, Assembly: The Photographs of Thomas Struth 1978-2018 presents the first comprehensive, systematic theory of contemporary German artist Thomas Struth's main body of photographic work from its beginnings in the late 1970s until his most recent work in 2018.

The book presents a unique, evolutionary understanding of the work, proposing that it has established three stages of production: archive, matrix, and assembly. Together the three stages form a developmental system that characterizes the individual photographs, their relation to their subject matter, and how they form larger, significant collections of images. The book's project accomplishes three main goals: it develops a comprehensive critical reading of the work, it serves as a monograph of the artist, and it provides an extensive analysis of the photographs at all stages, including the less discussed, more recent photography, which is placed on par with the earlier work for which Struth first became internationally renowned.

1210From 1988 to 1991 Dawoud Bey made a series of portraits of African Americans in the streets of various American cities. Using a large format tripod mounted camera and a unique positive/negative Polaroid film that created both an instant print and a reusable negative, he asked a cross section of the populations of these communities to pose for him, creating a space of self presentation and performance in the streets of the urban environment. As part of every encounter, Bey gave each person a small black-and-white Polaroid print for themselves as a way of reciprocating and returning something to the people who had allowed him to make their portrait. Defying racial stereotypes, the resulting portraits reveal the Black subjects in all of their psychologically rich complexity, presenting themselves openly and intimately to the camera, the viewer, and the world.

1220The searing portraiture of Donald Graham One of a Kind The photographer reflects on his three-decade-long career spent collaborating with his subjects - from ordinary people to the likes of Snoop Dogg and Lenny Kravitz - to capture their inner worlds.

More than 30 years ago, at the outset of his career, photographer Donald Graham decided to make a portrait of his mother. "My feeling was that if you're going to be a photographer of people, you should be able to make a great photograph of your mother," he recalls.

"It sounds simple, but it's not. My mother had multiple sclerosis compounded by a severe stroke. She couldn't move her legs or arms, her face and hands were contorted, and all she could say was, 'yes' and 'no.' Yet she lived with a grace and peace that I found remarkable," Graham continues. "I wanted to make a photograph that revealed who I knew her to be and honoured the complexity of her situation."

In Graham's portrait, his mother sits in her wheelchair, gazing into the distance with a look of faith, hope, and determination. She is powerful and vulnerable at the same time, captured from below so as to elevate her image.

"After photographing her, I began a way of photographing that has become the foundation on which I work," Graham says. "I start from a place of respect. I look for what is extraordinary within a person. I guide them to authentic moments."

Over the next three decades, Graham honed his practice travelling around the work on both assignments and making personal work, creating a series of 100 black and white portraits collected in the new book One of a Kind (Hatje Cantz). Among his sitters are photographer Gordon Parks, Hell's Angels founder Sonny Barger, singer Chaka Khan, and writer James Ellroy.

Inspired by the work of photographers Irving Penn, Yousef Karsh, and Peter Lindberg, Graham distills the unique qualities of his sitters - both famous and ordinary - by collaborating with them on a journey to their inner world.

"I love portraiture because it can express qualities of humanity that each of us have experienced," Graham says. "By allowing and focusing on what is happening inside the subject, we are able to see into the internal dialogue of another person. When that story can be told in a lyrical way, it is sublime."

In bringing together portrait assignments like 'Boy With a Bible', made after a Sunday church service in Little Rock, Arkansas, for i-D magazine, with personal series including 'The Holy Men of India' and 'The Rastafarians of Jamaica,' One of a Kind explores the fundamental qualities of existence that people share.

"Every person has a story. Every story makes an impact. During our time together, I encourage each person to share their story so that the photographs we make are a collaboration," Graham says.

"This way of working has made me very sensitised. I photograph what I feel. This process has changed my definition of beauty. I seek to honour the beauty of uniqueness, character and imperfection while remaining sensitive to the pain of the human experience."

1218There are few creatures as gorgeous and elusive as the black leopard. In Africa, these magnificent cats are so rare as to be the stuff of legend. Will Burrard-Lucas's love for leopards began during his childhood in Tanzania and propelled him into a career as a wildlife photographer. In his quest to create intimate portraits of animals, he developed innovative technology, including a remotely controlled camera buggy and a high quality camera trap system for photographing nocturnal creatures. Then, one day in 2018, he heard about sightings of a young African black leopard in Kenya and with the help of people from the local community, he succeeded in capturing a series of high-quality photographs of the elusive cat. In this compelling and visually stunning book, Burrard-Lucas tells his story of creativity, entrepreneurship, and passion for wild animals, alongside awe-inspiring images of lions, elephants, and the black leopard itself.