--- description: Here are TIME's best photobooks of 2019, from Rihanna, Joel Meyerowitz, and many others from around the world. title: The Best Photobooks of 2019 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1943c118d5f5c876/698a07e14ee2621c58316d36/time-best-photobooks-2019-f.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # TIME's 30 Best Photobooks of 2019 Dec 21, 2019 12:00 PM CUT  Jessica Pettway for TIME by [TIME Photo Department](/author/time-photo-department/) ## TIME Photo Department Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2019 12:00 PM CUT In 2019, creativity in photobook publishing continued to flourish with outstanding works from an international group of independent and established publishers. This list, chosen by TIME’s photography staff, celebrates any type of book driven by photographs, from lavish volumes like music icon Rihanna’s visual autobiography to more experimental artists’ efforts like photographer Sohrab Hura’s _The Coast_. Some photo books expose the unfamiliar in familiar circumstances or stories. Elinor Carucci’s _Midlife_ illuminates a universal period in a woman’s life that is rarely exposed. Lisette Poole’s first book _La paloma y la ley_ provides an intimate and personal account of migration, a topic too often oversimplified and hyper-dramatized. Other books provide new context and information through a thorough anthological dive into a topic or theme, such as Hannah Darabi’s Enghelab Street, A revolution through books, Iran 1979-1983, and The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion by Antwaun Sargent, or a book that surprised many of our editors, On Death: Various Artists. Andres Gonzalez’s uniquely bound _American Origami_ is the book we’ve chosen to highlight, in addition to the 30 others presented here. The 42-year-old photographer from Mountain View, Calif. explores the depth of trauma that follows school shootings in America. Released in September, the book features more than 700 photos, though not a single one depicts the common scenes of shock and grief so routinely captured in the immediate aftermath of such tragedies. Instead, Gonzalez hones in on mostly inanimate objects—mountains of handwritten cards, drawings, paper cranes and other tiny mementos left behind and archived after some of the deadliest school massacres in the nation’s history. ## [American Origami](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9490119814/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=9490119814&linkId=5a4da32fd6164cd6562fcf2398b86e01 "undefined") by Andres Gonzalez ### _Published by_ [_Fw:Books/Light Work_](http://andresgonzalezphoto.com/books "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME While sifting through the forgotten items from the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting that killed 32 people, Gonzalez found a pair of green chemistry goggles, which had on them faded notes a lab partner had written to a slain classmate. “Discovering the massive amount of artifacts hidden in these archives made me feel grief in a new way,” Gonzalez tells TIME. In Newtown, Conn., for example, where 20 first-graders and six educators were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, well-wishers from across the world sent more than 65,000 stuffed animals and a half-million condolence letters. “No one should have to go through this,” reads one of the letters, “but you are not alone.” The gifts filled makeshift memorials and homes of survivors and victims’ families, eventually so inundating the town much of it had to be incinerated. “People are just trying to connect to these tragedies that they don’t understand,” says Gonzalez, who also documented the Parkland and Columbine attacks. “I wanted to engage with that grief, to embrace it and preserve it.” The rest of the book’s pages are filled with first-hand accounts by survivors and witnesses as well as images of empty streets after camera crews have moved on. “Someday there may truly be a reckoning,” Gonzalez says, “and I want this collection to hold that memory the same way our scars preserve our personal histories.” One virtue of the photobook, compared to the other ways we experience photography, is that it allows us to dig deep into a topic or theme and reveals the unseen details of familiar stories. There is the space and time to sift through all of the elements of a project while creating a tactile experience that stays with us. It’s a lot different than swiping up on a phone. The photobooks on this list bring together the familiar and unfamiliar in a gripping way that feels bold and experiential. We hope you enjoy this year’s selection. ## [Midlife](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158093529X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=158093529X&linkId=07b62e3f1be2fc2858f517a5bbfe1398 "undefined") by Elinore Carucci ### _Published by_ [_The Monacelli Press_](https://www.monacellipress.com/book/midlife/ "undefined")  TIME  TIME ## Flowers For Franco by Toni Amengual ### [_Self-Published_](https://toniamengual.com/product/flowers-for-franco/ "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Federal Triangle](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0998518093/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0998518093&linkId=ae9162da2f0459175def17cd9a6d01f9 "undefined") by Mike Osborne ### _Published by_ [_Gnomic Book_](https://gnomicbook.com/Federal-Triangle "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Cats: Photographs 1942–2018](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3836573857/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=3836573857&linkId=545706881e445eeae3d8999256dd10df "undefined") by Walter Chandoha ### _Published by_ [_Taschen_](https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/05344/facts.walter%5Fchandoha%5Fcats%5Fphotographs%5F19422018.htm "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Mother](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1912339455/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1912339455&linkId=1a63108b532a5b37a95e97c4a1f9042b "undefined") by Paul Graham ### _Published by_ [_MACK_](https://mackbooks.co.uk/products/mother-br-paul-graham "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1597114685/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1597114685&linkId=3c41f7b91273ae6a29429072a35f5565 "undefined") by Antwaun Sargent ### _Published by_ [_Aperture_](https://aperture.org/shop/the-new-black-vanguard/ "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Photograph by Awol Erizku from The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion by Antwaun Sargent Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1909526622/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1909526622&linkId=eec71236a4a5c3e6297c8f6fa2d5b978 "undefined") by Michael Lang ### _Published by_ [_R|A|P_](https://www.reelartpress.com/catalog/edition/139/woodstock:-3-days-of-peace--music "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## Things People Wear In Kenya by Philippine Chaumont and Agathe Zaerpour ### _Published by_ [_Kodoji Press_](https://www.dashwoodbooks.com/pages/books/19323/philippine-chaumont-agathe-zaerpour/things-people-wear-in-kenya "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Carnival](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1913288048/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1913288048&linkId=02577dfc2bcf136b20f91b1802f195d2 "undefined") by Mark Steinmetz ### _Published by_ [_Stanley/Barker_](https://www.dashwoodbooks.com/pages/books/19401/mark-steinmetz/carnival "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [The Other Side](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3958296130/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=3958296130&linkId=cbbecdb0ad13438cb2dc9a927f746b6f "undefined") by Nan Goldin ### _Published by_ [_Steidl_](https://steidl.de/Books/The-Other-Side-1017343656.html "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## On Death: Various Artists ### _Published by_ [_Kris Graves Projects_](https://www.krisgravesprojects.com/book/ondeath "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [The Hampton Album](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1633450813/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1633450813&linkId=287f900fd22573897af2894f380e2d9e "undefined") by Frances Benjamin Johnston ### _Published by_ [_MoMA_](https://store.moma.org/books/moma-publications/frances-benjamin-johnston-the-hampton-album-deluxe-edition---hardcover/900080-900080.html "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Omaha Sketchbook](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1912339447/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1912339447&linkId=b7caef770cc87c1256948ef052a9750a "undefined") by Gregory Halpern ### _Published by_ [_MACK_](https://mackbooks.co.uk/products/omaha-br-gregory-halpern "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## Hardened by Jeff Mermelstein ### _Published by_ [_Mörel Books_](https://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=ZH807&i=&i2=https://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=ZH807&i=&i2= "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Stories](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3958295150/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=3958295150&linkId=3fbd09c27c6e55e9f467adffff5793c4 "undefined") by Santu Mofokeng ### _Published by_ [_Steidl_](https://steidl.de/Books/Stories-1829404248.html "undefined")  TIME  TIME ## [Combing for Ice and Jade](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RMJRDGK/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07RMJRDGK&linkId=70319f5cd663f17ad8b8e331743f247b "undefined") by Kurt Tong ### _Published by_ [_Jiazazhi_](https://jiazazhistore.com/products/kurt-tong-combing-for-ice-and-jade "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## Hannah Darabi – [Enghelab Street, A revolution through Books, Iran 1979-1983](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3959052626/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=3959052626&linkId=630fe42ccc6c582d360ad1ea6891fbd8 "undefined") ### _Published by_ [_Spector and LE BAL_](https://www.lebalbooks.com/editions-du-bal/382-hannah-darabi-enghelab-street-a-revolution-through-books.html "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## La paloma y la ley by Lisette Poole ### _Published by_ [_Red Hook Editions_](https://www.redhookeditions.com/portfolio/la-paloma-y-la-ley-lisette-poole "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Abendlied](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0998518077/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0998518077&linkId=6632997a14781e636c9cb149a8df2725 "undefined") by Birthe Piontek ### _Published by_ [_Gnomic Book_](https://gnomicbook.com/Abendlied "undefined")  TIME  TIME ## [Provincetown](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1597114677/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1597114677&linkId=7b39c68065b3f7c7f4f85e1106d66a80 "undefined") by Joel Meyerowitz ### _Published by_ [_Aperture_](https://aperture.org/shop/joel-meyerowitz-provincetown/ "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Séance](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1527236315/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1527236315&linkId=b83cf34ddfcf39556b0afacf7ad7ee33 "undefined") by Shannon Taggart ### _Published by_ [_Fulgur_](https://fulgur.co.uk/books/shannon-taggart/seance/?v=7516fd43adaa "undefined")  TIME  TIME ## [The Coast: Twelve Parallel Short Stories](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VDGZN76/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07VDGZN76&linkId=92c5c7717743fe85abd38353d614db00 "undefined") by Sohrab Hura ### _Published by_ [_Ugly Dog_](https://www.facebook.com/UGLY-DOG-846663928730710/ "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Family](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1912339579/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1912339579&linkId=dba6460edffba372cf52ba38afdc7dca "undefined") by Masahisa Fukase ### _Published by_ [_MACK_](https://mackbooks.co.uk/collections/frontpage/products/family-kazoku-br-masahisa-fukase "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## April Dawn Alison ### _Published by_ [_MACK_](https://mackbooks.co.uk/products/april-dawn-alison-br-erin-o-toole-ed "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Rihanna](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0714878014/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0714878014&linkId=53f09cdb58d8619adb018c802e415479 "undefined") by Rihanna ### _Published by_ [_Phaidon_](https://www.phaidon.com/store/art/rihanna-fenty-x-phaidon-9781838660109/ "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [The Pillar](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9198523309/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=9198523309&linkId=70c49558aab53204321adcc7abc43f34 "undefined") by Stephen Gill ### _Published by_ [_Nobody Books_](https://www.nobodybooks.com/https://www.nobodybooks.com/product/the-pillar "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [Photographs](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/191271907X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=191271907X&linkId=2a7babfc1d5a03d914705787210476b2 "undefined") by Jack Davison ### _Published by_ [_Loose Joints_](https://loosejoints.biz/products/photographs "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME ## [In Color](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8417975187/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=8417975187&linkId=8ed8e1b687b3bff101dc7162c128b3f8 "undefined") by Manuel Álvarez Bravo ### _Published by_ [_RM_](https://www.artbook.com/catalog--photography--monographs--bravo--manuel-alvarez.html "undefined")  TIME  TIME ## [Issues: A History of Photography in Fashion Magazines](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/071487678X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=071487678X&linkId=f8c294450882d6973bd6ec9b4b29ad19 "undefined") by Vince Aletti ### _Published by_ [_Phaidon_](https://www.phaidon.com/store/fashion-culture/issues-9780714876788/ "undefined")  Jessica Pettway for TIME  Jessica Pettway for TIME **Correction, Dec. 27** _The original version of this story misstated the title of_ April Dawn Alison. _It is_ April Dawn Alison_, not_ April Dawn Allison_. The original version of this story also misstated the author of_ Coming for Ice and Jade_._ _It is Kurt Tong, not Kurt Long._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5753783/best-photobooks-2019/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5753783/best-photobooks-2019/"},"headline":"TIME's 30 Best Photobooks of 2019","datePublished":"2019-12-21T12:00:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:39:22.207Z","description":"Here are TIME's best photobooks of 2019, from Rihanna, Joel Meyerowitz, and many others from around the world.","url":"https://time.com/5753783/best-photobooks-2019/","keywords":["LightBox","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo Department","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo-department/"}],"articleSection":"World","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":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5753783/best-photobooks-2019/","name":"TIME's 30 Best Photobooks of 2019"}}]}] ```