SoFLaFoto · Photobook Art Lab

Photobook Resources

Since the late 1990s the photobook has moved from the margins of photography to its center: histories and anthologies, dedicated publishers and booksellers, fairs, festivals, awards, and libraries have turned it into a field of its own. This guide follows that phenomenon year by year, from 1999 to today, and gathers the books that have written its history.

The timeline builds on Darius Himes’s “A Timeline of the PhotoBook Phenomenon, 1999–2021,” published in The PhotoBook Review 020 (Aperture, 2021), and extends it to the present, with particular attention to Latin America.

Timeline

Open each period to read its events.

1999–2004The photobook gets a history
Before 1999
  • photo-eye Books & Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, specialist bookseller and gallery for photography books.
1999
  • Fotografía pública: Photography in Print 1919–1939, exhibition and catalogue curated by Horacio Fernández at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, widely credited with establishing the photobook anthology as a genre.
2001
  • The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century by Andrew Roth (PPP Editions in association with Roth Horowitz).
2002
  • photo-eye Booklist, a quarterly journal on photography books (founding editor Darius Himes), launches in print; it runs until fall 2007.
  • Apple adds book ordering to iPhoto: users design and order a custom-printed, linen-covered hardbound book of their photographs, one of the first consumer print-on-demand photobook services.
  • Around this time, A Photographer’s Place, Harvey Zucker’s shop at 133 Mercer Street in SoHo (opened 1979) and New York’s only store dedicated to the photobook, closes.
2004
  • The Photobook: A History, Vol. I, by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger (Phaidon).
  • The Open Book: A History of the Photographic Book from 1878 to the Present, exhibition and book produced by the Hasselblad Center, Gothenburg.
2005–2009Print on demand, fairs, and new publishers
2005
  • The Open Book travels to the International Center of Photography, New York.
  • Dashwood Books opens in New York (David Strettell).
  • Blurb, a consumer print-on-demand publishing platform, is founded; services such as AsukaBook and Edition One, and later MagCloud and Artifact Uprising, follow.
2006
  • The Photobook: A History, Vol. II (Phaidon).
  • Printed Matter launches the NY Art Book Fair.
2007
  • Jeffrey Ladd’s blog 5B4: Photography and Books begins (to 2012).
  • Radius Books, a nonprofit art and photography book publisher, is founded in Santa Fe by David Chickey, Darius Himes, David Skolkin, and Joanna Hurley.
  • Latin American Photography Forum, Itaú Cultural, São Paulo: an advisory committee including Marcelo Brodsky, Iatã Cannabrava, Martin Parr, and Ramón Reverté meets to plan a book and exhibition on the history of the Latin American photobook.
  • The last printed photo-eye Booklist appears, with an interview with Paul Graham about A Shimmer of Possibility (steidlMACK, 2007).
2008
  • Fotobookfestival Kassel, the first festival devoted to the photobook, is founded by Michael Wiedemann, Thomas Wiegand, and Dieter Neubert.
  • Hewlett-Packard launches MagCloud, an on-demand magazine platform.
  • Errata Editions begins its Books on Books series of study editions of rare photobooks.
2009
  • Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and ’70s by Ryuichi Kaneko and Ivan Vartanian (Aperture).
2010–2014Festivals, dummies, and awards
2010
  • The Kassel Dummy Award begins.
  • Offprint, a fair for independent publishers of books, records, magazines, zines, and posters, is founded in Paris by Yannick Bouillis; it later adds London and joins LUMA Arles in 2015.
  • Self Publish, Be Happy (SPBH) is founded in London by Bruno Ceschel.
  • Larissa Leclair begins the Indie Photobook Library in Washington, DC.
  • MACK is founded in London by Michael Mack.
  • Christie’s South Kensington holds a dedicated photobooks auction.
  • Through the decade, photobook festivals multiply: Photobook Bristol, One Thousand Books (Copenhagen), Photobook Week Aarhus, Self Publish Riga, Photobookfest Moscow, Kyiv Photo Book, Gazebook (Sicily), and the Vienna Photobook Festival. Les Rencontres d’Arles and PHotoESPAÑA host photobook awards, and dummy awards follow Kassel’s lead, among them the Unseen Dummy Award, the LUMA Rencontres Dummy Book Award, and the Cortona On The Move photobook prize.
2011
  • The PhotoBook Review launches as a collaboration between Aperture Foundation and Paris Photo.
  • Printing Show – TKY: Daido Moriyama’s performance-exhibition at Aperture Gallery, New York.
  • The Latin American Photobook by Horacio Fernández (Aperture; Spanish edition El fotolibro latinoamericano), the outcome of the 2007 São Paulo committee.
2012
  • The Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards are launched.
  • The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, acquires about 24,000 photobooks from the collector Manfred Heiting, spanning the history of the medium.
  • The MACK First Book Award is launched; the first winner is Anne Sophie Merryman’s Mrs. Merryman’s Collection.
  • 10x10 Photobooks is founded in New York by Russet Lederman, Olga Yatskevich, and Matthew Carson.
  • Revelaciones: Historia del fotolibro en Latinoamérica at Ivorypress, Madrid, and The Latin American Photobook at Aperture Gallery, New York (2012–13).
  • New awards and platforms appear in these years, including the Capricious Photo Award, the Australia & New Zealand Photobook Award, the Images Vevey Book Award, the ICP/Gost First Book Award, and in China the Caochangdi Photo Season, ABC (Art Book in China), and the Friendship book fair at Photofairs Shanghai.
2013
  • 10x10 American Photobooks, reading room and catalogue.
2014
  • The Photobook: A History, Vol. III (Phaidon).
  • The PhotoBookMuseum opens in Cologne in a temporary space at the Carlswerk, founded by Markus Schaden.
  • Photobooks: Spain 1905–1977, exhibition curated by Horacio Fernández at the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid.
  • The Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive (APPA), directed by Daniel Boetker-Smith, is active in Melbourne.
2015–2021Museums, collections, and new histories
2015
  • Photobook Melbourne holds its first festival, founded by Heidi Romano and Daniel Boetker-Smith.
2016
  • The Indie Photobook Library collection is placed with the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University.
  • For the 40th anniversary of the Consejo Mexicano de Fotografía, a research seminar at the Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, reviews the Consejo’s archive and book collections, leading to the exhibition Fotos en libros, libros de fotos, a project by Horacio Fernández on Latin American photobooks.
2017
  • Tate acquires Martin Parr’s collection of more than 12,000 photobooks, partly as a gift and partly by purchase with support from the LUMA Foundation.
  • Photobook Phenomenon, the largest exhibition on the subject to date, at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona and Fundació Foto Colectania, curated by Horacio Fernández, Moritz Neumüller, Ryuichi Kaneko, Erik Kessels, Martin Parr, Gerry Badger, Frederic Lezmi, Irene de Mendoza, and Markus Schaden.
  • The Japanese Photobook 1912–1990 by Ryuichi Kaneko and Manfred Heiting (Steidl).
  • CLAP! 10x10 Contemporary Latin American Photobooks, reading room and catalogue.
2018
  • Photobook: RESET, workshops and assemblies to rethink the photobook, curated by Bruno Ceschel at C/O Berlin.
  • The Woolsey Fire destroys much of Manfred Heiting’s photobook library at his home in Malibu.
  • How We See: Photobooks by Women, 10x10 Photobooks reading room and catalogue.
2020
  • The Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, acquires nearly 3,000 contemporary photobooks, maquettes, and zines from Self Publish, Be Happy.
2021
  • 10x10 Photobooks launches its Research Grants on Photobook History.
  • Ghanaian photographer Paul Ninson raises more than $1 million to build a photobook library and visual education center in Accra, the Dikan Center.
  • Justin Aversano’s Twin Flames #83, an NFT sold with 100 physical prints, sells for $1.1 million at Christie’s New York.
  • What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843–1999 (10x10 Photobooks) wins Catalogue of the Year at the 10th Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards.
  • The PhotoBook Review 020, its tenth-anniversary issue, publishes Darius Himes’s timeline of the photobook phenomenon.
2022–2026Recent developmentsNew
2022
  • The What They Saw reading room begins touring at The New York Public Library, continuing to the Rijksmuseum, the Boston Athenaeum, the Museo Reina Sofía, and the Getty; the catalogue wins the Kraszna-Krausz Book Award.
  • Universo Fotolibro, about fifty recent Latin American photobooks curated by Laura Carbonell, at the Fiebre Photobook Festival, Madrid.
  • The Dikan Center opens in Accra with some 30,000 books, described as Africa’s largest photography library.
  • Photobooks &: A Critical Companion to the Contemporary Medium by Matt Johnston (Onomatopee).
2023
  • Publish Your Photography Book, third edition, by Darius D. Himes and Mary Virginia Swanson (Radius Books).
  • The Dummy Award, formerly the Kassel Dummy Award, is now organized by The PhotoBookMuseum, Cologne.
  • Dutch Photo Publications 1918–1980, edited by Manfred Heiting (Steidl).
2024
  • Photobooks from Latin America, curated by Laura Carbonell with Sebastián Mejía, at Fotofestiwal, Łódź, Poland: more than fifty recent photobooks from ten countries. It continues as Photobook Universe: Latin American Printed Constellations in Barcelona and Switzerland.
  • Flashpoint! Protest Photography in Print, 1950–Present, 10x10 Photobooks reading room and catalogue.
2025
  • The PhotoBook Review now appears within every issue of Aperture magazine.
  • Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook of the Year: The Classroom by Hicham Benohoud (Loose Joints).
  • Martin Parr, photographer, collector, and co-author of The Photobook: A History, dies in Bristol at 73.
2026
  • Photobooks USA 2000–25 at the International Center of Photography, New York, curated by David Campany, Sara Ickow, and malaika newsome.
  • Photobook Mania, second edition, organized by PhMuseum in Bologna.
  • Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards shortlists announced; winners at Paris Photo, November 12–15.

Awards

Winners of the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards, founded in 2012, in recent years.

PhotoBook of the Year
First PhotoBook
Catalogue of the Year
2025
PhotoBook of the YearThe ClassroomHicham Benohoud · Loose Joints
First PhotoBookA Study on WaitressingEleonora Agostini · Witty Books
Catalogue of the YearGeneralized Visual ResistanceC. Boieiro and R. Schefer, eds. · ATLAS
2024
PhotoBook of the YearDisruptionsTaysir Batniji · Loose Joints
First PhotoBookBorn from the Same RootTsai Ting Bang · self-published
Catalogue of the YearShining LightsJoy Gregory, ed. · Autograph and MACK
2023
PhotoBook of the YearThe DrawerVince Aletti · SPBH Editions
First PhotoBookTenderCarla Williams · TBW Books
Catalogue of the YearThe Public Life of WomenD. R. Kc and N. Gurung Kakshapati · Nepal Picture Library / photo.circle
2022
PhotoBook of the YearPériphériqueMohamed Bourouissa · Loose Joints
First PhotoBookHafiz: Guardians of the Qur’anSabiha Çimen · Red Hook
Catalogue of the YearDevour the LandMakeda Best · Yale University Press
2021
PhotoBook of the YearThe Banda JournalMuhammad Fadli and Fatris MF · Jordan Édition
First PhotoBookUntitledSasha Phyars-Burgess · Capricious
Catalogue of the YearWhat They SawR. Lederman and O. Yatskevich, eds. · 10x10 Photobooks

Bibliography

Histories, surveys, and reference works on the photobook, grouped by subject.

Histories and anthologies
  • Fernández, Horacio. Fotografía pública: Photography in Print 1919–1939. Madrid: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, 1999.
  • Roth, Andrew. The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century. New York: PPP Editions / Roth Horowitz, 2001.
  • Parr, Martin, and Gerry Badger. The Photobook: A History. 3 vols. London: Phaidon, 2004, 2006, 2014.
  • Roth, Andrew, ed. The Open Book: A History of the Photographic Book from 1878 to the Present. Gothenburg: Hasselblad Center, 2004.
  • Auer, Michèle, and Michel Auer. Photo Books: 802 Photography Books from the M.+M. Auer Collection. Hermance: Éditions M.+M. Auer, 2007.
Latin America
  • Fernández, Horacio. The Latin American Photobook. New York: Aperture, 2011. Spanish edition: El fotolibro latinoamericano. Mexico City: RM, 2011.
  • 10x10 Photobooks. CLAP! 10x10 Contemporary Latin American Photobooks. New York: 10x10 Photobooks, 2017.
National and regional surveys
  • Kaneko, Ryuichi, and Ivan Vartanian. Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and ’70s. New York: Aperture, 2009.
  • Gierstberg, Frits, and Rik Suermondt. The Dutch Photobook: A Thematic Selection from 1945 Onwards. New York: Aperture, 2012.
  • Morioka, Yoshiyuki. Books on Japan 1931–1972. Tokyo: BNN, 2013.
  • Fernández, Horacio. Photobooks: Spain 1905–1977. Madrid: RM / Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, 2014.
  • Karasik, Mikhail, and Manfred Heiting. The Soviet Photobook 1920–1941. Göttingen: Steidl, 2015.
  • Parr, Martin, and WassinkLundgren. The Chinese Photobook: From the 1900s to the Present. New York: Aperture, 2015.
  • Haest, Hinde. 1/100: Dutch Photographic Publications from the Wingender Collection. The Hague: Uitgeverij Komma, 2016.
  • Fernández, Horacio, ed. New York in Photobooks. Barcelona: RM / Centro José Guerrero, 2017.
  • Kaneko, Ryuichi, and Manfred Heiting. The Japanese Photobook 1912–1990. Göttingen: Steidl, 2017.
  • Heiting, Manfred, ed. Dutch Photo Publications 1918–1980. Göttingen: Steidl, 2023.
  • Boieiro, Catarina, and Raquel Schefer, eds. Generalized Visual Resistance: Photobooks and Liberation Movements (Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, 1960–1980). Lisbon: ATLAS, 2025.
Women, documentary, and protest
  • Brouws, Jeff, Wendy Burton, and Hermann Zschiegner. Various Small Books: Referencing Various Small Books by Ed Ruscha. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013.
  • Leclair, Larissa, and Darius Himes. A Survey of Documentary Styles in Early 21st Century Photobooks. Blurb, 2013.
  • Lederman, Russet, Olga Yatskevich, and Michael Lang, eds. How We See: Photobooks by Women. New York: 10x10 Photobooks, 2018.
  • Lederman, Russet, and Olga Yatskevich, eds. What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843–1999. New York: 10x10 Photobooks, 2021.
  • 10x10 Photobooks. Flashpoint! Protest Photography in Print, 1950–Present. New York: 10x10 Photobooks, 2024.
Artists’ books, design, and publishing
  • Castleman, Riva. A Century of Artists Books. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1994.
  • Lauf, Cornelia, and Clive Phillpot. Artist/Author: Contemporary Artists’ Books. New York: D.A.P. / American Federation of Arts, 1998.
  • Johnson, Robert Flynn. Artists’ Books in the Modern Era 1870–2000: The Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books. San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco / Thames & Hudson, 2001.
  • Drew, Ned, and Paul Sternberger. By Its Cover: Modern American Book Cover Design. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005.
  • Ceschel, Bruno. Self Publish, Be Happy: A DIY Photobook Manual and Manifesto. New York: Aperture, 2016.
  • Johnston, Matt. Photobooks &: A Critical Companion to the Contemporary Medium. Eindhoven: Onomatopee Projects, 2022.
  • Himes, Darius D., and Mary Virginia Swanson. Publish Your Photography Book. 3rd ed. Santa Fe: Radius Books, 2023.

References

Updated October 2026.
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