Shelf life

Amy Davies presents her pick of the best photography books featured in AP over the past 12 months

This year seems to have been a bit of a golden one for photography publications, with dozens of fantastic tomes to add to your shelf – or your Christmas wishlist.

It’s a joyful – if tricky – task to go through all the books we’ve featured in the magazine in the past year to pick out a set of highlights. 2022, I’d argue, has been one of the strongest yet – certainly during my tenure as Features Editor at least.

Such was the enormity of the task, this year I’ve been given more pages than usual to make my recommendations. There is a wide selection of genres, photographers and styles here, so there should be something to suit every need – and hopefully every budget in these difficult times.

Documentary photography, particularly historical and archive photography, has been strong this year, with a keen sense of nostalgia seeming to do well with book publishers. There have been great showings from contemporary artists too, proving that there’s no sign of the book becoming less favoured even in a primarily digital age. There’s still something special about having something physical to hold in your hands, the smell of the paper and the weight of a solid book. Even if we do perhaps need reinforced shelving to hold them.

The books on the following pages are presented in no particular order. Narrowing it down to the selected few was difficult enough, let alone ordering them. Of course, every person’s taste is different so what might appeal to me might not appeal to you – but hopefully there’s at least a couple here that will tickle your fancy.