Kate’s Top 10 +1 Photo Books of 2024

Photobook Reviews, Episode 9 – by Kate Schultze

This year has been a big one for photo books (as every year probably) and even though I picked up a fair amount of books I probably still didn’t manage to see even 10% of what has been published. Here are my Top 10 of the books I managed to look at in 2024. Some of these I’ve already spoken about in depth, some of them I only picked up a few days ago (and for some I’m still waiting in the post right at this moment). So please enjoy this brief overview and maybe it gives you an idea of what’s to come next year!

State of Emergency

Max Pinckers

Over the last 10 years, Pinckers developed State of Emergency as a documentary project in collaboration with Mau Mau war veterans and Kenyan survivors of the brutal suppression during the final years of British colonial rule. Combining fragmented colonial archives, photographs of architectural and symbolic remnants, mass grave sites, reenactments, and personal testimonies, the book brings together stories from those who lived through and survived the war.

A person holds open a book. The left page is mostly blank, while the right page shows a photograph of three people sitting and lying on rocky ground, near a rock wall, with some green plants nearby.

Publisher

Self-published

Layout

Flexible hardcover,
30x24cm, 448 pages

Price

40 €

Plexus

Elena Helfrecht

Plexus delves into the theme of family trauma, focusing on the legacy of Elena’s female ancestors. Following her grandmother’s passing, Elena returns to Bavaria and transforms her family’s 200-year-old house into a stage. In her vision, the estate and its everyday objects come alive, becoming, as she describes, “protagonists for an allegoric play.” Through this creative lens, Elena examines a universal question that often preoccupies photographers: what exists in the space between past and present, myth and reality, personal memories and shared cultural heritage?

An open book on a wooden surface shows two black and white photos: one of a tree trunk with hanging ropes, and one of chairs stacked on beams in an attic-like space.

Publisher

Void

Layout

Hardcover, 24x30cm, 104 pages

Price

55 €

Link

Dogbreath

Matthew Genitempo

An open photo book on a wooden surface displays two black-and-white images: one of an empty building exterior in sunlight, and another of a person in profile exhaling visible breath or smoke.

Set in Tucson, Arizona, Matthew Genitempo’s Dogbreath tells the story of teenagers trying to find their way in a challenging world. Through photos of crumbling neighborhoods, punk kids in mosh pits, and their wild dog companions, the book captures the raw energy and uncertainty of youth. Woven into this are mysterious writings about a boy named Dove, who talks about secret rituals, scavenging for scraps, and hunting for gold, adding a layer of mystery to this powerful portrait of life on the edge.

Publisher

Trespasser

Layout

Hardcover, 29.2x38cm, 108 pages

Price

80 €

A Woman I Once Knew

Rosalind Fox Solomon

Two black-and-white photos of an older woman: on the left, she sits on a chair holding her knees; on the right, she bends forward to open the lid of a commode chair. A hand holds the book open on a wooden surface.

At thirty-eight, Rosalind Fox Solomon began her photography career in Chattanooga, Tennessee, studying with Lisette Model and developing a distinctive style that defined her work for decades. In 1984, she moved to New York City and traveled extensively to places like Peru, India, and South Africa, earning acclaim for her bold depictions of everyday life. Over the same period, she created self-portraits, using her camera to explore aging, self-perception, and the emotions that shaped her journey. A Woman I Once Knew unites these portraits with her reflective writings, offering a deeply personal blend of image and text that captures her experiences with depression, cultural discovery, and her empathetic approach to art.

Publisher

Mack

Layout

Paperback, 26x38cm, 264 pages

Price

65 €

The Perfect Crime

Jan Staiger & Malte Uchtmann

A hand holds open a magazine. The left page shows multiple small photos with captions, while the right page features a large image of a person in a dark jacket reading a book, against a plain background on a wooden table.

Germany has a deep fascination with crime fiction, with over 238 crime series airing across its six largest TV networks. Drawing from this abundance of fictional murder, The Perfect Crime explores how crime series influence our perceptions and behaviors. Using varied photographic methods, Staiger and Uchtmann capture film sets of German crime series, re-staging and abstracting scenes while contrasting them with realistic images of corpses and crime scenes. Portraits of actors playing victims and perpetrators are transformed with AI to create alternate identities, echoing the creation of police phantom images. Additionally, locations used as fictional crime scenes are documented as 3D reconstructions through photogrammetry, hinting at the rise of so-called “fear spaces.”

Publisher

Kult

Layout

Softcover, 15,6x28cm, 216 pages

Price

39 €

American Glitch

Andrea Orejarena & Caleb Stein

An open book lies on a wooden surface, displaying pages with scattered text, handwritten notes, a photo of scissors by a mug, and a photo of two cats interacting on a table.

Andrea Orejarena and Caleb Stein spent years treating the internet as a collective subconscious, gathering social media posts of “real life glitches” as part of their research. These posts, presented as multidimensional echoes, inspired their formal photographs of locations across the U.S. that evoke similar glitch-like qualities.

American Glitch examines the tension between fact and fiction as it appears in the U.S. landscape, questioning what is real in a world saturated with information. In an age of screens and growing technological dependence, the idea that we live in a simulation has gained cultural traction, often as a satirical critique of late-stage capitalism and disinformation.

Publisher

Gnomic

Layout

Softcover, 21,2x28cm, 156 pages

Price

50 €

Nothing Personal

Nikita Teryoshin

An open book shows two photos: on the left, an empty black office chair beside a coat rack; on the right, two people in traditional Middle Eastern attire watch red smoke in the sky over water.

The news bombards us daily with images of war and destruction, while global spending on weapons continues to rise. Yet, the inner workings of the arms trade remain largely hidden from view. Between 2016 and 2023, photographer Nikita Teryoshin visited 16 arms fairs across every continent, gaining rare access to exclusive defense expos that are typically closed to the public. Through his lens, he reveals what happens behind the scenes of the global arms industry, shedding light on the business of war before conflicts unfold.

Publisher

Gost

Layout

Hardback, 21×28,5cm, 182 pages

Price

55 €

King, Queen, Knave

Gregory Halpern

An open photo book displays two images: one of a shopping cart and frosty trees in the snow, and one of a weathered house with snow on the ground and purple accents on the window and trim.

Gregory Halpern has spent over two decades photographing Buffalo, New York, and its surroundings, creating the series that forms his latest monograph, King, Queen, Knave. The work offers a unique perspective on the city, challenging the typical narratives of post-industrial decline and instead embracing a surreal, enigmatic reality. Halpern’s captivating images unfold like a stage, where distinct and unpredictable characters emerge amidst solitary buildings, snowdrifts, and sun-drenched scenes of everyday transcendence.

Publisher

Mack

Layout

Hardcover, 24x29cm, 112 pages

Price

65 €

I saw a tree bearing stones in the place of apples and pears

Emilia Martin

A hand holds open a book. The pages show a black-and-white photograph of a large rock on a barren ground, with two human arms reaching out from behind it.

​​In the dusty basement of an old house filled with astronomy antiques, a meteorite collector excitedly shares fragments of cosmic rocks, including one linked to the Siberian explosion that leveled a forest. While some meteorites look like ordinary stones, their true allure lies in the stories they carry—stories that bridge human history and the blurred line between fiction and fact. In her book I saw a tree bearing stones in the place of apples and pears, artist Emilia Martin delves into these myths: meteorites as divine miracles, acts of gods or devils, objects of worship, or even powdered medicine. These myths reflect humanity’s reverence for meteorites as travelers from deep time—silent witnesses of outer space and the origins of life on Earth. Despite their profound history, they remain enigmatically silent, guarding their secrets as we weave narratives around them.

Publisher

Yogurt

Layout

Hardcover, 24x29cm, 112 pages

Price

32 €

Developments

Tino Zimmermann

A book spread shows a left page filled with a close-up of many used cigarette butts. The right page features a young man in a striped hoodie, standing indoors with arms crossed, looking down pensively.

Tino Zimmermann’s photobook is a deeply personal exploration of the connections between creativity, working-class societies, addiction, and mental illness. Using images from his archive, Zimmermann reflects on six years of his life, beginning with his discovery of photography as self-therapy after a drug-induced schizophrenic episode. The book argues that societal rejection of young, creative individuals can lead to preventable struggles, focusing on depression as a widespread yet stigmatized issue. Designed entirely by the artist, the work aims to raise awareness, de-stigmatize mental health challenges, and resonate with neurodivergent individuals.

Publisher

Artist Book

Layout

Hardcover, 23×31,5cm, 528 pages

Price

80 €

Gertrud

Maja Daniels

Unfortunately this book is quite hard to get hold of at the moment, but I wanna draw some attention to “Gertrud” by Maja Daniels, which I did have the chance to see in the flesh a few weeks ago: In 1667, 12-year-old Gertrud Svensdotter was accused of walking on water in Älvdalen, Sweden, sparking the Swedish witch-hunts—a time of mass hysteria and terror in the region. In Gertrud, artist Maja Daniels uses photography to reinterpret the history and mythology of these events, creating a contemporary conversation around Gertrud’s story.

Publisher

Void

Layout

Hardcover, 23×28,4cm, 168 pages

Price

52 €

Link

I hope you enjoyed this lengthy post and well done for making it to the end!

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