Renowned photographer Martin Parr once described the photobook as the “supreme platform to disseminate work.” Since the very first iteration – widely acknowledged as Anna Atkin’s Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843) – publishing images have been a way to give them life outside of the gallery. As Magnum Agency’s website states: “the essential role of books is to get the work out, to have the work seen. Practically, books have a wider readership than fairs; they can cover diverse geographies.” Throughout the 20th century, the medium became integral to the artistic landscape, with titles like Henri Cartier-Bresson’s The Decisive Moment and Eve Arnold’s The Unretouched Woman, shaping how people viewed society. Here, we share five photobooks, due to be released this spring, that continue this tradition.
Director Luca Guadagnino and visual artist Alessio Bolzoni present a curated selection of both iconic and unseen photographs by Luigi Ghirri. The book moves from wry images of discarded magazine cuttings and details of materials, to domestic spaces and images from Ghirri’s travels. The publication also features three essays The Open Work, The Impossible Landscape and House, Bridge, Gate, written by the artist. In the opening extract, he says: “I am writing these pages after long reflection over the past days, in an attempt to explain and define photography. This is not easy for me, although I have been thinking about this ever since I began working with photography…indeed maybe even longer, since the time when, as a child, I used to look at our family album.” Here, audiences gain an insight into the man behind the photographs.
West Africa and the Americas have been historically entwined since the 17th century, when millions of enslaved Africans were forcibly transported to the so-called “New World.” By the mid-20th century, newly independent African nations were once again connected to the Americas through cultural, social and economic exchange. Richard Hay Jr. uses a nuanced interplay of black-and-white and colour photography to trace the correspondences between the two locations. The artist refuses the dominant visual tropes of poverty, conflict and exoticism, approaching his subjects with a distinctly artistic lens. The images, taken during the 1970s, are often contextually ambiguous. Streets, interiors, landscapes and fleeting encounters open a contemplative space in which affinities and differences between cultures emerge organically.
Belgian photographer Harry Gruyeart is perhaps best-known for his images of India, Morocco and Egypt, as well as his innovative use of colour. However, for over 50 years, he has also wandered New York City’s streets, capturing its dazzling contrasts – from tower skylines and neon-lit diners to multicultural neighbourhoods and fleeting street scenes. This book presents photographs across a double page spread, evoking the rhythms and energy of a cinematic storyboard. The striking visual journey is accompanied by fictional vignettes by acclaimed filmmaker and screenwriter Cédric Klapisch, an addition which blurs the lines between reality and imagination. A city of endless spectacle, New York becomes a global stage in Gruyart’s hands – alive with drama, diversity and colour.
Liminal Space began completely by chance. Photographer Marina Sersale began wandering her native city of Rome, Italy, documenting the familiar areas around her. The result was a series of dramatic black-and-white images of people, sights and scenes. The book brings together over a decade of work, providing a visual exploration of the spaces between light and shadow, reality and imagination. For Sersale, photography is both a way of perceiving everyday life and a means of engaging with it. She explains: “This body of work explores the threshold between reality and perception: I am drawn to moments in which the familiar becomes uncertain, where the boundary between what is seen and what is imagined begins to blur, and a fleeting sense of intimacy between myself and my subject emerges.”
Elliott Erwitt’s Kolor
Published by teNeues
The carefully curated images in Elliott Erwitt’s Kolor were drawn from an archive of almost half a million Kodachrome slides. The 304 pages reveal a vibrant kaleidoscope of photographs – some over 70 years old – whose colours have been remarkably preserved. Erwitt’s subjects are remarkably diverse, with figures such as John F. Kennedy and Alfred Hitchcock gracing the pages of the publication. These households names are placed alongside snapshots of playful showgirls and bustling markets. Yet, whether its military camps or Las Vegas, each image is imbued with Erwitt’s unmistakable dry humour and keen sensibility. Nothing is more emblematic of this than the cover, which features an image of Hollywood icon, Marilyn Monroe, captured alongside co-stars and cowboys on the set of 1960 film, The Misfits.
Words: Emma Jacob
1. © Harry Gruyaert, Maddison Avenue, 1985
2. Luigi Ghirri Felicità by Alessio Bolzoni & Luca Guadagnino is published by MACK. Luigi Ghirri, Felicità is at Thomas Dane Gallery, London, from 23 January to 9 May 2026.
3. United States, 1970s © Richard Hay Jr.
4. © Harry Gruyaert, Manhattan, 1972
5. ©️Marina Sersale, Liminal Space, Positano, 2015.
6. Elliott Erwitt, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 1957 Showgirls.
