--- title: The Best Photobooks of 2018 description: Here are TIME's best photobooks of 2018, from photographers like Deana Lawson and Vivian Maier. canonical: https://time.com/5459153/best-photobooks-2018/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-20T17:20:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:42:09.870Z og:title: The Best Photobooks of 2018 og:description: Here are TIME's best photobooks of 2018, from photographers like Deana Lawson and Vivian Maier. og:url: https://time.com/5459153/best-photobooks-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bc56b083463bf18/698940db8fd2ee1ae635d52d/lede.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3040 og:image:height: 1710 og:image:alt: Best Photo Books 2018 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Best Photobooks of 2018 twitter:description: Here are TIME's best photobooks of 2018, from photographers like Deana Lawson and Vivian Maier. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bc56b083463bf18/698940db8fd2ee1ae635d52d/lede.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # TIME's 25 Best Photobooks of 2018 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Worth Your Time: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Worth Your Time is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more. Worth Your Time is a curated guide to the culture worth knowing, from the biggest conversations of the moment to the books, shows, ideas and discoveries worth your attention. Culture editor Eliza Berman taps TIME's collective taste and perspective to surface what is worth watching, reading, talking about and sharing, and why. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=7335d1e8-9f1e-4b24-8233-22f92da3d69f&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Tuesday and Saturday (2x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Eliza Berman, Culture Editor | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Culturally curious consumers. An audience tuned into the ideas, entertainment and cultural conversations worth knowing, with added influence among professionals across media, entertainment, creative, brand, communications and consulting. ### TIME Worth Your Time: key statements * Worth Your Time is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Worth Your Time is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=7335d1e8-9f1e-4b24-8233-22f92da3d69f&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/subscribe?i=7335d1e8-9f1e-4b24-8233-22f92da3d69f&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What should I watch or read, according to TIME? Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. Dec 20, 2018 5:20 PM UTC  Danny Kim for TIME by [TIME Photo Department](https://time.com/author/time-photo-department/) ## TIME Photo Department Dec 20, 2018 5:20 PM UTC As an antidote to your unyielding Instagram feed, consider the photobook. In 2018, the form continued to be the most intimate way for photographers to fulfill and share their work. Here, TIME’s photography staff has selected the 25 we loved most this year. Three explored intimate worlds particularly incisively. In [Deana Lawson](https://aperture.org/shop/deana-lawson-an-aperture-monograph/)’s self-titled first monograph (Aperture), an elegant satin-covered book, the celebrated young artist solidified her unique sensibility within collaborative, lush portraiture. Like a painter, Lawson uses the large-format camera to craft a formal tableaux where ideas of representation, performance and power converge — elevating the everyday environments and allowing the subjects to assert themselves. Meanwhile, Andrew Moisey designed his [_American Fraternity_ ](http://time.com/longform/american-fraternity-life-photographs/)(Daylight) as an illustrated handbook filled with secret rituals and history. For eight years, he was allowed to capture the inner life of a fraternity house, which feels as if it could be from almost anywhere in America or any time since the release of the 1978 film _Animal House_ — but was particularly powerful in a year where conversations about “toxic masculinity” circled some of the U.S. government’s most powerful men. Moisey’s book feels like a peek inside a clandestine world laughing about a joke that isn’t funny anymore. “The culture that happens in a fraternity house ends up infecting the rest of the country,” Moisey told TIME, “especially when brothers become leaders.” And in the compilation of loopy family photographs by Michael E. Northrup in _Dream Away_ ([Stanley/Barker](https://www.stanleybarker.co.uk/collections/books/products/dream-away)), the follow-up to [_Babe_ (J+L Books, selected for TIME’s 2012 list)](http://time.com/3795591/times-best-of-2012-the-photobooks-we-loved/), the artist opens his archive of early work from 1976–88 and looks at his own love and marriage. In the tradition of photographers making books around their families (like Emmet Gowin, Sally Mann or [Doug DuBois](http://dougdubois.com/atdan/)), Northrup balances the beauty of domestic life within the sensibility of an acid trip. Some images are touching while others are tempered with a looming anxiety about mortality. Nevertheless, the book gives the feeling that love, longing and a sense of whimsy make life in Northrup’s world feel hopeful. Almost all of our notable books seem to test the boundaries of studied, well-hewn documentary works. For instance, _Undocumented_ by John Moore and _Upstate Girls_ by Brenda Ann Kenneally use the book format as the ultimate expression of the epic story. And John Edmond’s _Higher,_ Rose Marie Cromwell’s _El Libro Supremo de la Suerte_, Jo Ann Walters’ _Wood River/Blue Pool_ and many other photobooks found space to preserve the overlooked. Works like [_Landing Lights Park_ ](http://www.davidmaxrothenberg.com/statement-1/)(ROMAN NVMERALS) by David Rothenberg were more illusive; its untethered sense of reality makes what may otherwise seem mundane — the area around LaGuardia Airport in Queens, N.Y. — into an incredible exercise in mindful seeing. All of these books are attempts at seeing anew. They play with notions of sequence. They challenge our habits, increasingly defined by ceaseless scrolling. We hope they delight, transport or, perhaps most importantly, make you take a sacred moment to see the world differently. ## [Deana Lawson: An Aperture Monograph](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1597114227/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1597114227&linkId=aec95c25598fb69fa9cdf0c641b6a7df) ## Published by [Aperture](https://aperture.org/shop/deana-lawson-an-aperture-monograph)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [The American Fraternity: An Illustrated Ritual Manual](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1942084552/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1942084552&linkId=e7c01afe063259c6d244e23df5316400) ## By Andrew Moisey ## Published by [Daylight](https://daylightbooks.org/products/american-fraternity-an-illustrated-manual)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Dream Away](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0995555583/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0995555583&linkId=7dbe45720a6725119b069d4bd5b8b267) ## By Michael Northrup ## Published by [STANLEY/BARKER](https://www.stanleybarker.co.uk/collections/frontpage/products/dream-away)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Lars Tunbjörk](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9171264442/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=9171264442&linkId=ba603debf8137579dbd187e127a851b2) ## Published by [Max Ström](https://www.maxstrom.se/bocker/222778/lars-tunbjork/)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Vivian Maier: The Color Work](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062795570/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0062795570&linkId=2d36d871aef297eacdf37f247f4c6d15) ## Published by [Harper Design](https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062795571/vivian-maier-the-color-work/)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [On Abortion: And the repercussions of lack of access](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1911306243/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1911306243&linkId=873b55c5864b1a05c60092e72e5b731d) ## By Laia Abril ## Published by [Dewi Lewis Publishing](https://www.dewilewis.com/products/on-abortion)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [American Interiors](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1911306170/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1911306170&linkId=ba8dafbcc61a6c98cf814eeb6fa78ed4) ## By M L Casteel ## Published by [Dewi Lewis Publishing](https://www.dewilewis.com/products/american-interiors)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Of Love and War](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525560025/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0525560025&linkId=fb7c06c6ab7fbd8e2afe5fbfb8a54a46) ## By Lynsey Addario ## Published by [Penguin Press](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/580090/of-love-and-war-by-lynsey-addario/9780525560029/)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Liberty Theater](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1912339226/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1912339226&linkId=d683231f1683b56aabb6356bf86388c8) ## By Rosalind Fox Solomon ## Published by [Mack](https://mackbooks.co.uk/collections/frontpage/products/liberty-theater-br-rosalind-fox-solomon)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Kagerou](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GBLCR17/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07GBLCR17&linkId=78fa63252968971cc905972a2233209d) ## By Yusuke Takagi ## Published by [Akina Books](http://akinabooks.com/product/kagerou/)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Upstate Girls: Unraveling Collar City](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1942872836/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1942872836&linkId=15facc00f943f05f955e0121586d840a) ## By Brenda Ann Kenneally ## Published by [Regan Arts.](https://www.reganarts.com/books/2017/upstate-girls/)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Dawoud Bey: Seeing Deeply](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477317198/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1477317198&linkId=8b4ff3c4b62a8f1955f04be41d7beef9) ## Published by [University of Texas Press](https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/dawoud-bey)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Jo Ann Walters: Wood River Blue Pool](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/099673516X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=099673516X&linkId=df934e7c485e8e142bd3687b21e5a7d0) ## Published by [Image Text Ithaca](https://imagetextithaca.com/collections/frontpage/products/wood-river-blue-pool-blue-pool-cecilia)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Higher](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0997444681/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0997444681&linkId=d823101cba7602948818f70e5d96470f) ## By John Edmonds ## Published by [Capricious](https://becapricious.com/publications/higher-by-john-edmonds/)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Undocumented: Immigration and the Militarization of the U.S.-Mexico Border](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1576878678/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1576878678&linkId=5268c6469fb0a6765022aef590fcce04) ## By John Moore ## Published by [powerHouse Books](http://www.powerhousebooks.com/books/undocumented-immigration-and-the-militarization-of-the-u-s-mexico-border/)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## Landing Lights Park ## By David Rothenberg ## Published by [Roman Nvmerals](http://www.romannvmerals.com/books/NIII.html)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [El Libro Supremo de la Suerte](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E2XDIW/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B008E2XDIW&linkId=7d6e77073cadd88dc40656dc8e58ac57) ## By Rose Marie Cromwell ## Published by [TIS Books/Light Work](https://www.tisbooks.pub/products/el-libro-supremo-de-la-suerte)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1597114243/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1597114243&linkId=29ff7d67f5fee89220ad5e0d6ee3ae2a) ## By Zanele Muholi ## Published by [Aperture](https://aperture.org/shop/somnyama-ngonyama-hail-the-dark-lioness)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [In My Room](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3958291031/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=3958291031&linkId=5c9a9ffd08f68550a32eab8686a220b3) ## By Saul Leiter ## Published by [Steidl](https://steidl.de/Books/In-My-Room-0811234546.html)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [My Birth](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1999814444/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1999814444&linkId=6e9563880241cb530f5b5fabd1495413) ## By Carmen Winant ## Published by Image Text Ithaca/[SPBH Editions](http://shop.selfpublishbehappy.com/product/my-birth-by-carmen-winant)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [The Parallel State](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1910401226/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1910401226&linkId=6307ed464c09771d966a0df7cc4b4eeb) ## By Guy Martin ## Published by [GOST Books](https://www.gostbooks.com/2018/04/03/the-parallel-state-by-guy-martin/)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Experimental Relationship Vol. 1](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GTBW2TS/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07GTBW2TS&linkId=ab966810bc08f809e3250874fc62fc66) ## By Pixy Liao ## Published by [Jiazazhi Press](http://www.jiazazhi.com/book/experimental-relationship-vol1/)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Christopher Street 1976](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1916410685/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1916410685&linkId=442d2ede85270817c330175a86fb3d84) ## By Sunil Gupta ## Published by [STANLEY/BARKER](https://www.stanleybarker.co.uk/products/christopher-street-1976)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Roy DeCarava and Langston Hughes: The Sweet Flypaper of Life](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0999843826/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0999843826&linkId=46faaeaee6825992f343c9a0ec70709d) ## Published by First Print Press/[David Zwirner Books](http://davidzwirnerbooks.com/product/the-sweet-flypaper-of-life-softcover)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## [Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525573887/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=tmbestphotobooks2018-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0525573887&linkId=2e38e9b29b6339d2a4ecdb69f719edbf) ## By Vikki Tobak ## Published by [Clarkson Potter](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/567510/contact-high-by-vikki-tobak-foreword-by-questlove/)  Danny Kim for TIME  Danny Kim for TIME ## ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5459153/best-photobooks-2018/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5459153/best-photobooks-2018/"},"headline":"TIME's 25 Best Photobooks of 2018","datePublished":"2018-12-20T17:20:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:42:09.870Z","description":"Here are TIME's best photobooks of 2018, from photographers like Deana Lawson and Vivian Maier.","url":"https://time.com/5459153/best-photobooks-2018/","keywords":["Living","Books","photography","LightBox","longform"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo Department","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo-department/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5459153/best-photobooks-2018/","name":"TIME's 25 Best Photobooks of 2018"}}]}] ```