Aperture Priority

Twilight

Photographer Arthur Drooker has captured our attention for years. His latest book, Twilight, features a colorful, resonant series of twilight images shot at The Sea Ranch in Northern California over a series of months. This peaceful meditation feels particularly good this year, and is a visually compelling break from the increasing complexity of the world.

Added: November 2023

This product is sold by Arthur Drooker

i-Type Retinex Film

Polaroid’s latest special edition film, Round Frame Retinex, is a tribute to founder Edwin Land’s Retinex Theory, which explores how colors are perceived in relation to their surroundings. This film accentuates the phenomenon by framing an image with bold color and pattern to create a unique visual experience. Sold in a double pack edition, there are 10 distinct frame designs that magnify the interplay of colors, with each photograph celebrating the magic of color perception.

Sample images by Francesco Sambati, Courtesy of Polaroid

Added: October 2023

This product is sold by Polaroid

Mobile Tripod

Peak Design is known for their meticulous, design-is-in-the-details approach, and their Mobile Tripod reaffirms that. Designed by the company’s tripod engineering team, it meets most needs for your phone—using as a stand for calls or video conferencing, or in tripod mode horizontally or vertically. If you have a later series iPhone with MagSafe it makes it even more convenient.

Added: July 2023

This product is sold by Peak Design

Xerophile: Cactus Photographs from Expeditions of the Obsessed

From LA-based creative collective Cactus Store, an updated version of the original Xerophile: Cactus Photographs from Expeditions of the Obsessed includes new archival imagery, that spans 80 years, alongside expanded notes. Cacti surviving the snow-capped mountains of Bolivia, succulents that grow in lava in the Galapagos Islands, a two-leaf plant that has lived for a millennia: these fascinating photos and more complete this stunning collection.

Added: January 2023

This product is sold by Ten Speed Press

Stanchion Annual Subscription

Black and white photography, poetry, flash fiction, art and more populate Stanchion, a quarterly zine produced, edited and published by Jeff Bogle. An annual subscription includes all four editions of their gorgeous publication—printed on thick, uncoated A5 paper—as well as an exclusive bonus issue, making for an elegant and evocative gift for literary and artful minds.

Added: November 2022

This product is sold by Stanchion

We Were Here: Sexuality, Photography, and Cultural Difference

India-born, Canada-raised and UK-based photographer Sunil Gupta has spent most of his career taking pictures of queer subjects, wielding his camera as a weapon for liberation. He shares some of his influential images and explorations of queerness, post-colonialism and activism in We Were Here: Sexuality, Photography, and Cultural Difference. Spanning 192 pages and including 26 images, the volume features Gupta’s keen essays on homosexuality in India, the AIDs crisis and the Black Arts Movement, capturing the practices and enduring power of resistance.

Added: November 2022

This product is sold by Aperture

Nothing Left but Healing

A 71-person group book celebrating Pomegranate Press—a Richmond, Virginia-based independent publishing house for contemporary photography, writing and more—Nothing Left but Healing features a plethora of different pieces across its 150 pages. Within the smyth-sewn book are alluring portraits, microphotography, landscapes and more enchanting works.

Added: November 2022

This product is sold by Pomegranate Press

Colour Mania: Photographing the World in Autochrome

Autochrome photography was the first commercially available form of color photography, pioneered by Auguste and Louis Lumière in the early 1900s. Historic and precious, many of these images are rarely seen today as exposure to light will cause them to fade. The book Colour Mania: Photographing the World in Autochrome, by curator Catlin Langford, offers unprecedented access to these images, presenting the digitized photographs from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s expansive collection while exploring the impact of photographic technology.

Added: November 2022

This product is sold by Thames and Hudson

June Newton Best Seller

David Owen’s new book, June Newton Best Seller, is the story of a floor manager at a regional department store. While it may seem her life is dull, it’s anything but. Filled with quirky diary confessionals and imaginary conversations with Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder and Nicholas Cage, the book turns from an off-kilter journal to a rollercoaster of a story. It’s the publisher’s first foray into literary fiction, and has been illustrated and designed by Karla Jarvinen and Dominik Pollin.

Added: August 2022

This product is sold by IDEA

Acid House As It Happened

When London’s rave scene began in the late ’80s, it ignited a culture around uninhibited style, the Roland TB-303 synthesizer and blissful hedonism. More than wild revelry, the scene—dubbed acid house—became a meeting place for people across genders, sexualities, class and race. That unity is revealed in former The Times editor and photographer Dave Swindells’ book Acid House As It Happened. Swindells, who followed the scene from its infancy to today, chronicles the explosion of the subculture through photographs that show how acid house exposed people to new ideas and ways of being. Price is in Euros.

Added: July 2022

This product is sold by IDEA

The Only Woman

A compelling reflection on history and culture, The Only Woman by Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Immy Humes celebrates women in male-dominated fields while illustrating the absurdity (and perils) of tokenism. From 1860 to present day and across 20 countries, Humes spotlights pioneers and disruptors, re-contextualizing gender equality and paying tribute to famous and overlooked musicians, astronauts, railroad workers, sportspeople, politicians, activists and more.

Added: June 2022

This product is sold by Phaidon

Koreatown Dreaming

The Covid-19 pandemic and gentrification have threatened small businesses and iconic establishments in LA’s Koreatown, as well as the livelihoods of many in the neighborhood. To document, commemorate and celebrate the area, photographer Emanuel Hahn composed Koreatown Dreaming, a photo book that comprises the stories of 40 small businesses and immigrants with poetry and essays by Katherine Yungmee Kim, Lisa Kwon, Cathy Park and Dumbfoundead. 10% of the book’s profits will be donated to Koreatown non-profits.

Added: June 2022

This product is sold by Emanuel Hahn

Havana Blues

Pastel facades, vintage cars, Art Deco buildings and architectural travels, as well as a unique blend of African, French, Spanish and North American influences converse in Havana, Cuba—and, thus, in Pamela Ruiz’s photobook that honors the vibrant city. With over 200 exquisite images, Ruiz captures Cuba’s rich culture, self-determination and progress.

Added: June 2022

This product is sold by Assouline

Nadine Ijewere: Our Own Selves

London-born photographer Nadine Ijewere, the first Black woman photographer to shoot a cover for Vogue, explores beauty (while subverting traditional notions surrounding it) in her enchanting monograph Our Own Selves. Dreamy backgrounds, compelling compositions and vibrant hues suffuse this collection of her work, attesting to the vivid ways Ijewere celebrates people of color and breaks barriers.

Added: May 2022

This product is sold by Prestel Press

Annie Leibovitz: Wonderland

Esteemed photographer Annie Leibovitz’s first fashion book, Wonderland, transports viewers into the artist’s otherworldly, dramatic and intimate world of imagery. The book, a collection of works she shot mostly for Vogue, features a foreword by Anna Wintour as well as 350 photos, including many that have never been published and depict an array of notable figures like Serena Williams, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and more. More than a collection of fashion or photography, Wonderland captures Leibovitz’s ability as a compelling, visual storyteller.

Added: March 2022

This product is sold by PHAIDON

Hello Future

Within Abu Dhabi-born artist Farah Al Qasimi’s opulent images, greater postcolonial structures of power, increasing globalization and the Persian Gulf’s period of rapid change lurk. Hello Future, a 300-page monograph comprising Al Qasimi’s photographs, comprehensively reveals the artist’s exacting, vivid lens. Featuring a kiss-cut sticker dust jacket, mirror chrome hardcover designed by Studio Lin, an essay by Negar Azimi and conversation between Al Qasimi and artist Meriem Bennani, this book— visually and contextually—enthralls.

Added: February 2022

This product is sold by Capricious

I Can Make You Feel Good

I Can Make You Feel Good is the first monograph of filmmaker and photographer Tyler Mitchell and presents his vision for a Black utopia. Each page is full bleed, entirely subsumed by Mitchell’s loving photographs. Encompassing contributions by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Deborah Willis and Isolde Brielmaier, as well as Mitchell’s candy-colored palette, I Can Make You Feel Good reimagines the Black experience as one that’s characterized by pleasurable, leisurely moments of affirmation.

Added: January 2022

This product is sold by Prestel

Tengo un Dragón Dentro del Corazón

Tender yet subversive, dreamy yet introspective, Tengo un Dragón Dentro del Corazón is the first book of self-taught photographer Carlota Guerrero’s enchanting imagery. The collection—which includes text by renowned collaborators and the artist herself—spans her early photographs of women in nature, her renowned work for Solange’s A Seat at the Table, visuals from her project documenting the transgender community in Cuba and more. Altogether, this young visionary’s monograph muses on the idea of gender, femininity, human connection, patterns and the Golden Ratio.

Added: January 2022

This product is sold by Prestel

TOILETPAPER Calendar

The 2022 TOILETPAPER calendar offers all the surreal, bold and sultry imagery fans of artist Maurizio Cattelan and photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari’s magazine are accustomed to. This year’s food theme incorporates everything from chicken drumstick microphones to women sitting on fruit tarts—placing this calendar somewhere between ’70s cookbook and kitsch pin-ups. Juicy, glossy and off-kilter, this is a playful way to keep track of your days.

Added: November 2021

This product is sold by TOILETPAPER

Daniel Gordon: Houseplants

From the not-for-profit photo foundation Aperture, Daniel Gordon: Houseplants turns six of the artist’s mesmerizing still life images of houseplants into a six-page pop-up. This limited edition, collectible hardcover book, designed by by Simon Arizpe, celebrates the work of Gordon and the sculptural nature of plants.

Added: November 2021

This product is sold by Aperture Foundation

Rebels: From Punk to Dior

Celebrated documentary photographer Janette Beckman has an eye for capturing the beauty within the hidden crevices of society. Throughout four decades, her work has uniquely documented an ever-evolving zeitgeist of change-makers, which the monograph Rebels: From Punk to Dior is the first to showcase so thoroughly. It includes her early photographs of London’s punk rock scene, The Clash and Boy George; spans her move to NYC, where she covered the underground hip-hop scene, Run-DMC, Salt-N-Peppa and other rappers; and ends with her more recent photos, which depict the Black Lives Matter protests as well as collaborations with brands like Dior and Gucci. This collection, published by Drago, includes written elaborations from visionaries such as Paper magazine co-founder Kim Hastreiter, Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri, Sting and Slick Rick and comes signed with photos printed on baryta paper.

Added: October 2021

This product is sold by Drago

Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture

A dive into the dynamic 1980s Jamaican dancehall scene, Beth Lesser’s Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture looks at the influential movement that was largely unseen by those not involved. Lesser traveled to Kingston, Jamaica in the ’80s for Reggae Quarterly magazine and various dedicated nights, and found herself in the midst of dancehall’s golden age. While political tensions were still apparent, the welcoming and boisterous world of dancehall provided an escape and community for many. This book traces dancehall’s 1950s origins through to its ’80s heyday and beyond with colorful images and thoughtful text.

Added: September 2021

This product is sold by Soul Jazz Records

Edible Flowers: How, Why, and When We Eat Flowers

Featuring glorious photography by Adrianna Glaviano, the book Edible Flowers: How, Why, and When We Eat Flowers by Monica Nelson is part practical guide, history book and personal story—all organized alphabetically by each bloom’s common name. 100 flowers are featured alongside their Latin name, locations, blooming seasons, flavor profiles and which part is edible. Also outlined are historical practices (from ancient Greeks and Romans drinking violet wine to help with hangovers to medieval women adding borage to drinks as a kind of love potion) and culinary and cultural uses (like hibiscus drinks in Cambodia and the use of rose water in cooking across the Middle East, India and North Africa). There are also various contributions—including recipes—from chefs, writers and artists.

Added: August 2021

This product is sold by Monacelli Press

Polaroid Go Starter Set

The new Polaroid Go instant film camera is smaller than any of the photo brand’s previous iterations, and it uses an all-new type of film. This starter kit includes the pocket-sized camera and a double-pack of color film. The camera’s self-timer and side mirror assist make self portraits a breeze. Weighing just .53 lbs (242 grams), it’s light enough to wear around your neck for long periods and comes with a strap to do so. The Polaroid Go is rechargeable via USB and a full charge should last 15 film packs—or 120 snaps.

Added: April 2021

This product is sold by Polaroid

Roman Hours Book

A vivid reflection on the sensory delights of Rome, photographer Jeannette Montgomery Barron and author André Aciman’s collaborative Roman Hours book weaves together two inspiring perspectives. Montgomery Barron’s imagery invokes the Eternal City’s textures and prints its light upon the page. Aciman’s words tour life and love through passing moments. This 116-page cloth-bound book is the first within the Ivorypress Cities series. Price is in Euros.

Added: March 2021

This product is sold by Ivory Press