Humble editors recommend standouts in 2019 (online) photography writing

How often do you read – beyond a quick skim – the text accompanying a gut-heavy photo essay someone you respect shared on some social network? One that happened to algorithmically line up to your endless scroll? What was the last piece of writing on photography that truly made you stop, think, and maybe twitch for more than a few seconds or the “five minute read?” What writing sat with you for more than a glance? 

As photography writers and quotationally proclaimed “critics,” we try to read as much as we can to keep us both pulsed and pleasantly distracted. But it’s more than that. Great photo writing, whether it’s an honest Q+A or a thoughtfully researched essay or even an inspired exhibition review, can help us wade deeper, can help clarify, and in many cases, can change how we see what we see.

The following list barely nicks the skin of all the inspiring photography writing in 2019, but we hope will help move, distract, change your view of the world. In some cases, they may even help you navigate your own process of shooting, editing, curating, or making a living from making pictures.