Photography has been a vital strand in Thames & Hudson’s publishing programme throughout our history. We have been privileged to work with and publish a roster of great photographers whose work has become canonical to the medium, among them Henri Cartier-Bresson, Josef Koudelka and Sarah Moon, and authors and curators whose anthologies and surveys seek to broaden and build our appreciation of what photography is and can be.
Partnerships and collaborations with cultural institutions have been central to Thames & Hudson's publishing programme. Our longstanding collaboration with Magnum Photos has produced landmark publications including Magnum Magnum, Magnum Contact Sheets and Magnum America, whereas our more recent partnership with Autograph ABP resulted in the publication of Black Chronicles, a book which radically shifts our understanding of race and identity in the photography of Victorian Britain.
The ten books selected for our celebration of World Photography Day are very much the entry point to a diverse and rich backlist. They showcase the breadth and diversity of the list, our commitment to top-quality photography, book design and production, and Thames & Hudson's in providing a platform for fresh ideas, perspectives and concepts.
Among the monographs, Chris Killip is a noted recent success and is a book that feels as relevant to the UK now as it did in the Thatcher era of the 1980s in which Chris created much of his work. Deborah Turbeville: Photocollage, a book resulting from another valued partnership with MUUC Collection, presents extraordinary work by one of fashion photography’s most enigmatic figures. The two volumes by Matt Black, American Geography and American Artifacts, are the outcome of a 100,000 mile, -year odyssey to document poverty in the United States. Anastasia Samoylova: Adaptation is the first career-spanning monograph by an artist whose vibrant work is a vital – and gently humorous – meditation on environmentalism, consumer culture and our disorientating times. A common thread with those monographs, be they archival retrospectives or contemporary career summaries, is that the imagery is mesmerising, yet behind it the artist has something important to say.
Anthologies and surveys also need to have ‘something to say’ and a point of view is evident in three such books on the reading list. The African Gaze is an introduction to African photography and cinema from the mid-20th century to the present day. Authored by a brilliant young writer and curator, Amy Sall, it is a timely publication that also fits our desire to present new perspectives, as does the epic, complex yet accessible A World History of Women Photographers by Luce Lebart and Marie Robert. Reclaim The Street by Stephen McLaren and Matt Stuart builds upon our pioneering Street Photography Now, offering a truly global, optimistic and humanistic showcase of one of photography’s most active scenes.
The final three choices show a variety of approaches to books driven by an idea or theory. Fred Ritchin’s The Synthetic Eye tackles the hottest topic in the visual arts right now: Artificial Intelligence. Collaboration, the outcome of a vast, collaborative effort led by five of the great thinkers and practitioners in photography, is a compelling, revolutionary history of photography. And in a world where millions of images are shot at every moment of every day and where fast-paced environments exhaust and stifle creativity, The Mindful Photographer proposes an antidote: slowing down.
What unites all of these books is a desire to present arguably the most democratic medium of all in a way that is accessible, meaningful and brings the very best artists, photographers, ideas, curators and writers to audiences worldwide. The development of the photographic medium and the photobook as an expression of a photographer’s artistic and creative vision are tightly bound – there are fewer than twenty years between the earliest surviving photograph and the first photobook. It is a partnership that continues to thrive.
Words by Andrew Sanigar.
1. The African Gaze
An accessible yet critical introduction to postcolonial and contemporary African photography and cinema. Revel in the creative innovations of such pioneers as Malick Sidibé, Sanlé Sory, Ousmane Sembène and Seydou Keïta alongside up-and-coming and hitherto unappreciated artists.
Discover The African Gaze by Amy Sall.
2. Deborah Turbeville: Photocollage
Timeless, evocative and hauntingly beautiful: a retrospective monograph by a truly innovative image maker whose female gaze transformed fashion photography.
Discover Deborah Turbeville: Photocollage by Nathalie Herschdorfer.
3. The Mindful Photographer
Your guide to mindful photography, peaceful contemplation and a slow creative practice, including hands-on assignments, enlightening concepts and inspirational stories.
Discover The Mindful Photographer by Sophie Howarth.
4. American Geography
‘The photographs confer a stoical dignity on these exiles from America’s glossy promise, and notes from Black’s journals reveal how compassionately he listened to their jaunty tales of woe’ Observer
Discover American Geography and American Artifacts by Matt Black.
5. The Synthetic Eye
An essential investigation into the murky ethics of AI, one that calls into question the future of photography.
Discover The Synthetic Eye by Fred Ritchin.
6. Chris Killip
The definitive, full-career retrospective of the life and work of Chris Killip (1946-2020), one of the UK’s most important and influential post-war documentary photographers.
Discover Chris Killip.
7. A World History of Women Photographers
‘There are many famous names in this vast survey ... but the surprise pleasures are the lesser known’ The New York Times Book Review
Discover A World History of Women Photographers by Luce Lebart and Marie Robert.
8. Anastasia Samoylova: Adaptation
The first monograph on trailblazing photographer Anastasia Samoylova is a vital – and gently humorous – meditation on environmentalism, consumer culture and our disorientating times.
Discover Anastasia Samoylova: Adaptation.
9. Reclaim the Street
A vibrant survey of the trends and talents across the globe fuelling street photography today and a fresh take of what street photography is and can be.
Discover Reclaim the Street by Stephen McLaren and Matt Stuart.
10. Collaboration
A revolutionary history of photography from a stellar team of writers and thinkers that challenges all existing narratives by focusing on the complex collaborations between photographer and subject.
