Our 12 Favorite Photography Books of 2021

Photographer Carlota Guerrero’s debut book is filled with art that is so powerful, I sometimes feel like I need to take a few steps back. Human connection is a recurring theme, and there is a lovely sculptural quality to her images, with groups of women connected by their braided hair, their hands and bodies, or their clothing. (You’ve certainly seen her instantly recognizable portrait of Solange Knowles from the cover of the album, A Seat at the Table.) Guerrero also honors an array of bodies in a way that is intentional and natural. Her book greets us with an impressive roster of women, including poet Rupi Kaur and writer Leticia Sala, who attest to her dynamic spirit and imagination. Guerrero’s body of work feels particularly relevant now, with art that celebrates women but also confronts and explores representations of the feminine. —Samantha Cooper

This is a small but meticulously crafted glimpse into the archive of 24,000 or so photographs that photographer Lora Webb Nichols produced and collected over the course of her lifetime, only seen by a handful of people before the publishing of this volume. The book's editor, Nicole Jean Hill, who first discovered the archive while participating as an artist-in-residence in Wyoming in 2012, writes of Nichols, “Lora does not fit the usual narrative of female photographers from this era, which commonly places cameras in the hands of wealthy women who pursued the medium as a pastime. Lora was an entrepreneur who used photography to provide a level of financial stability for herself and her family.” 

Photographs of hardened copper miners and loggers are contrasted with everyday familial routines—a woman brushing her hair, a sick husband resting in bed, a little girl and her pooch—each as tenderly photographed as the last. It’s a shame that Lora Webb Nichols’ work went unseen for so long, but the world of photography, and American history, is richer because of her eye. —Cameron Getty

I first encountered Donavon Smallwood’s recent body of work, Languor, this past summer during an impromptu visit to Baxter St, the gallery and project space at the Camera Club of New York. Nestled inside of one of the city’s most bustling neighborhoods, I found a 400-square-foot cocoon of quietude, tranquillity, and most of all, recognition. Smallwood’s black-and-white photographs put forth a simple assertion: Here are Black individuals experiencing peace in nature. I look forward to meeting this work again in its next iteration as Smallwood’s first monograph. —Charis Morgan

There is no doubt that we are all Covided out by now, and that we've seen and heard too much about isolation and loneliness. Now is a time when our fatigued spirits are looking to be uplifted. Having said that, there is a mesmerizing beauty and meaningful quality to Julia Fullerton-Batten’s latest project, Looking Out From Within, that has struck me and stayed with me. We have lived through historical times, and Julia has captured the emotion and the essence of the pandemic lockdown in beautiful fine-art photography, with emotive, intimate portraits of people isolated in their homes—all shot at twilight to enhance the poignancy of their situation—coupled with equally intimate stories from the portraits’ subjects. She now brings the project together in a beautifully designed limited-edition artist book. This one ships in January 2022, but you can preorder it. —Dalia Nassimi

Rahim Fortune’s I Can’t Stand to See You Cry shows there is strength in vulnerability. In his second photo book, Fortune moves us visually through an embrace of his home life in Texas. The book is filled with black-and-white imagery of friends, family, and community members whose subtle gestures are felt through nearly all of the 112 pages. Toward the end, the viewer finally sees the photographer's most vulnerable image: his father laying in bed while connected to breathing tubes and the delicate placement of his hand holding Fortune’s.

His documentation of environmental disparities and its intersection with health is also stark. Fortune shows the prevalence of industrialism in Texas and, even more intensely, its proximity to human life. Images of protests are also prevalent, along with images showing lonesome buildings surrounded by grass and air. Even while touching on these broad themes, intimacy remains the common thread that makes each image feel tangible. —Lauryn Hill

I can’t stand to see you cry by Rahim Fortune is published by Loose Joints.

HORROR and FOOD in one book! One OMG-this-really-exists-and-it’s-in-my-hands book filled with gooey, dreadful, and delightfully gigantic photographs of recipes inspired by horror flicks. And as much as I wanted this to be just a photo book, it is actually a cookbook with the most splendidly gruesome and grotesquely alluring photographs I’ve ever seen. I really can’t get enough of them.

For example, “Snap Pea Gelatine Labyrinth” is an ode to The Shining. It's a Jell-O mold with snap peas in it, but unlike your Aunt Peggy’s Christmas delicacy, this dish is molded in the shape of a maze that’s a replica of the one where Jack Torrance met his demise in the 1980 thriller. It works. It all works so well. Honestly, my two favorite topics in this world, I kid you not, are horror and food. Third is cats, but cats weren’t invited to this party of goo. Or were they? There is actually a recipe called “Cat Chow,” which is a whole (headless) rabbit baked inside a clay cat figure that you sculpt yourself. An ode to Pet Sematary, naturally. —Anna Goldwater Alexander

The beautiful photographs in this book showcase the deep history of the Western Black Cowboys. Photographer Gabriela Hasbun captures the joy, wonder, and beauty of Black cowboy and cowgirl culture at the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo. It’s Black Cowboy Shit! Get on it! —Karen Williams

When flipping through the pages of Raymond Meeks’ new book, you can almost hear the faint snapping of twigs being stepped on, or the distant whispers and laughter of teenagers. You can smell the rotting fruit as the scent flows atop the river’s current. In Somersault, a project motivated by his daughter’s departure from home for university and foray into adulthood, Raymond Meeks explores the frightening unknown from the comfort of his own backyard. Through lyrical sequences of rich color photographs of dense thicket and fruit trees intertwined with black-and-white shots of withering building exteriors and portraits of his daughter, Meeks constructs a poetic love letter on what it means to live in a home, and what it means to leave it. —Cameron Getty

Benedict Redgrove's monumental volume is like no other book you’ve opened. You are suddenly catapulted into a world that you are normally never allowed to see. The photographer was granted special access to NASA’s spacecraft, labs, and facilities, and the detail he captured is extraordinary. He documents the enormous treasure trove of NASA’s history and presents it in the most beautiful form.

If the £150 (roughly $200) standard edition isn’t enough for you, Redgrove has now released the special £3,500 (roughly $4,630) “Apollo” edition. Each book is wrapped in the Apollo space suit material and secured inside a bag modeled on the original Apollo mission's tool bag. On top of that, each tool bag is hand-sewn by the same woman who made the original bags for the Apollo crews of the 1960s and ’70s. Throw in a personalized rubber name stamp—the same kind used by NASA to personalize the space suits for each astronaut—and you can feel a bit better about the price tag. There will only be 50 Apollo editions sold, each made to order and assembled by hand. —Dalia Nassimi

The fact that you have to click on a button reading “I am 18+ years old” to purchase or even look at this book makes me, naturally, want to devour all the pages immediately. It’s so worth the click.

Whenever I think of Chris Buck, I think funny. Humor. Hilarious. Witty. However, his latest book, Gentlemen’s Club: Partners of Exotic Dancers, does have some humor, but it’s actually mostly serious. Buck went around the US interviewing the partners of exotic dancers. I know I have definitely wondered about these empathetic, tuck-that-jealousy-deep-down, patient humans. Who are they? Do they feel rage or pride? To be included in Buck’s photo series, one of the partners has to be currently active as a dancer, and they have to be in a coupled relationship. We get a glimpse into the private lives of exotic dancers through a portrait of their romantic partners. Buck sits down with each couple—or sometimes just the non-dancer—and asks them a series of questions about their relationship. The portraits are spectacular, of course, and range from solo sittings with the partners to intimate portraits of the couples together. —Anna Goldwater Alexander