The Best "Best Photobooks of 2019" lists of 2019

There are a lot of photobook lists to pique your 2019 year-end enthusiasm – here are some standouts.

For the past few years, it’s been a tradition for us, like nearly every other photoblog, photography platform or major magazine, to create a totally subjective list of books that wow’d us. These often start popping up right around Thanksgiving, before all the black Friday sales. This year, to be painfully honest, we just missed the boat.

But it also looks quite a few others missed it too — New York Times, TIME Magazine? What happened? (Editors 12/22 update: Time recently published their list HERE and it’s pretty stellar. Our apologies for jumping the gun) Maybe it’s coming soon or maybe it's becoming a trend for the bigger folks to shy away from these, but anyway….what’s our point exactly? There’s still a lot to navigate.

We’ve been awed and enamored by the following lists published by those who could get their ducks together in time. If we’re missing any that truly inspired you (or you feel like we just missed your totally awe-inspiring list), feel free to email us and maybe we’ll add it (consider this a “living" document.”)

To see a few photobooks that have moved us in the past twelve months (or we’re excited to see come out in 2020) click HERE.

1) Buzzfeed’s: 33 of the Best Photobooks We’ve Seen All Year

We continue to be impressed by Gabriel Sanchez’s smooth straddling between academic photo writing awesomeness (see his work for Aperture) and widely accessible Buzzfeed photo features director. And we agree with at least 90% of these recommendations. We also appreciate that, for an incredibly high traffic'd and very mainstream audience, Sanchez included at least one self-published book. Lots of respect. Noteworthy on his list? The Spectacle of Illusion by Matthew L. Tompkins (Distributed Art Publishers)

2) Photobookstore UK’s Photobooks-of-2019 December blog series

Rather than sticking with the listicle format, Photobookstore UK has been posting at least one 2019 photobook highlight almost every day, selected by a different influential person in the photography/photobook community, for the entire month of December. It’s a unique approach, and if you have time, encourages sinking in beyond the quick scroll.

We haven’t read each one yet, but so far, Maki’s list stands out for introducing us to quite a few new names. We hope and pray that Photobookstore UK considers us legit enough to participate in next year’s list-making (seriously folks, we're on our hands and knees like Wayne and Garth. We know a lot about photobooks —invite us to contribute in 2020.)

3) Photoeye’s Photobooks of 2019 December blog series

Wait, weren’t we just singing another publisher’s praises for a month-long best-of series? If, for some reason, you’re not already familiar, Photoeye’s ALSO been doing this for years, with acclaimed photo luminaries such as Alec Soth, Michael Mack, Jess T. Dugan, David Campany, and Elizabeth Avedon contributing to the list. It’s another great way of expanding the publisher’s reach and getting a range of voices in the mix.

PhotoEye: we ray and hope that if you’re seeing this, you consider us legit enough to participate in next year’s list-making (seriously, we're on our hands and knees like Wayne and Garth. We care a lot about photobooks —puhhlleeeaaasse invite us to contribute in 2020.)

Our favorite on this list? Mark Sealy’s Decolonizing The Camera - recommended by David Campany. Photoeye staff: please see above re: inviting Roula or Jon to participate in next year's list-making.

4) Best Books of 2019 : Photography - Financial Times

Quick disclaimer: there’s a paywall to access this, but if you’re an FT subscriber (which isn't really a big deal, so stop complaining!) you can grab it. We like this list because it’s so compact – it’s actually part of Financial Times Weekend’s larger “Best Books of 2019” feature, which makes it hyper, extra-selectively curated. And like most great lists, most of the titles on this one were new to us. Favorite of this list? Maja Daniels’ Elf Dalia, which is already out of print!

5) 1000 Words Top Ten: Photobooks of 2019

This originally came via 1000 Words’ mid-December email newsletter – a great push towards a more intimate conversation. Their thoughtful, short paragraph descriptions give a smart, easy to digest snapshot of what you should be looking at and why. We love every book on the list, but our favorite is Long Story Short – Fraenkel Gallery’s book celebration of its 40th anniversary. These kinds of catalogs can often seem self-congratulatory, but Fraenkel does is with visual elegance.

6) Top 15 Photography Books of 2019 - The Guardian

The Guardian’s annual best-of list has been one of our go-to’s for years. Compiled by Sean O’Hage, one of our favorite photography writers, the reviews are concise, yet thoughtful, with a solid range, from Aaron Shuman’s “witty, deadpan meditation on small-town America" to Sohrab Hura’s “free-flowing visual narrative echoes both the overload of social media imagery and the edginess he encountered on unfamiliar Indian streets at night.” The list could have a few more women on it, but it’s still thoughtfully curated. An A- for that, but still an A. Our favorite? Possibly Denis Stock’s California Trip., but the whole list is great.

7) PH Museum’s Best Photobooks of 2019

A concise list of great photobooks, many of which we were totally unfamiliar with before reading this. Which is kinda what makes a list effective, right? Our favorite “discovery”: Hola Mi Amol by Karla Hiraldo Voleau