Fact: Instagram isn’t photography. Nor is TikTok. The work that you’re often seeing do well on Instagram is only really doing well there. Those photographers probably aren’t getting paid to do actual documentary photography with publications. But some of them indeed are! And that’s because they shoot with the idea of documentary work in mind first and telling organic stories that are important. To that end, their work is designed to appeal to humans and not an algorithm. So we’ve rounded up some incredible documentary photography photo books for you. Most importantly, we’ve also reviewed all of them. If you’re ready to stop wasting time on social media, then dive deeper here with us.
How We Choose the Best Photo Books of Documentary Photography
- The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed in these roundups.
- If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
- When we test lenses, we’ve got various things in mind. First off, we consider who might want to buy the lens and what they might do with it. With that in mind, we try to tackle at least three genres of photography with that lens in a variety of situations. If the lens has weather resistance, then we’ll test it accordingly with a weather-resistant camera. We also test the autofocus of the lens in continuous mode, single mode, with exposure preview effects, without those effects, and then with all the major image quality parameters. These days, no one really makes a bad lens — but some are far better than others.
- In this specific roundup, we’re basing our findings on the reviews that we’ve done. We’re choosing a favorite, but we’re also giving photographers a bunch of others that they might like, depending on how they shoot.
The Best Photo Book of Documentary Photography for 2024: All Callouts is Mandatory by Steven Ferdman
In his debut photography book, Steven Ferdman explores a sub-culture that most people aren’t aware of but have always been curious about. In New York City, there have been underground fight clubs for years. Steven started documenting the Rumble in the Bronx before the COVID-19 pandemic, then sat on the work to let it marinate. After a few edits, the book is ready for purchase. And trust us, it’s one that you’re going to want to savor.
Editor’s Note: As of October 2024, the publishing of the book has been put on hold.
In our review, we state:
Steve’s book has various sections with cover shots, establishing shots, filler, detail, and closing shots. The cover shots are often hidden throughout the sections but immediately grab your eyes for various reasons. Some show brutal moments, while others put the insanity of the fights front and center. The establishing shots cover various places, such as yachts on the East River, basements in the Bronx, rooftops, bodegas, etc. Steve makes it feel like each section is a chapter — complete with things like the cops breaking up the events and the commercialization of the whole thing.
For Others, These Might be the Best Photo Books of Documentary Photography
Steven’s work is great. But so too are the works of so many other photographers out there. Here are a few other standout photo books that we’ve reviewed this year.
Sealskin by Jeff Dworsky
In our review, we state:
Jeff’s images mix so many different colors, scenes, and people. You’re not super sure about the connection he has to these people either, as there isn’t much text in the book. So, instead, you end up making up your own stories. Once you’ve read all the text though, you probably will view the book differently if you choose to look through it again. And honestly, we think you really should. It’s a stunning photo book and an incredibly well-done one.
Chernobyl by Pierpaolo Mittica
In our review, we said:
Firstly, I sincerely think that the text should’ve been bigger or paginated differently as it’s a bit difficult to read. And for anyone who likes photo books, there’s a lot of important text to take in. Besides the text though, you’ll also run into lots of images. These photographs are stunning and only ruined by the fact that the book splits so many of the most gorgeous ones down the middle. Seriously, this book should’ve been printed square and it should’ve given each image its own page. This makes me a sad panda — especially because Pierpaolo made such stunning photographs.
The Hollow of the Hand
In our review, we said:
Seamus Murphy’s images are presented in a way that I really haven’t seen in most photo books. Instead of there being a slight luster layer, it’s matte. You can hit the images with as much direct light as you want and they’ll still be impactful. Some of the images are split right down the middle — and I hate that. But many of the photographs stand on their own pages. Because of theuse of this kind of paper, the images have a color unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. It pops in a way that feels like the most meticulously handrawn colored pencil prints I’ve ever experienced. Of course, there are also several black and white images. However, they don’t stand out as much as the color work.
Lastnightsparty
In our review, we said:
In Lastnightsparty, you’ll see a very voyeuristic viewpoint explored in its infancy. Bronques photographs people clearly happy to be in front of a camera and illuminated by a flash. Everyone, and every single moment, looks incredible. These are the types of wild party images that folks who are fans of the debaucherous love. I think of the images as candid, raw, wild, and appealing to the carnal side of humanity. You’ll find some famous faces here, too.
Using this Guide to the Best Photo Books of Documentary Photography
If you’re considering purchasing anything from this list, consider the following:
- All the product images and sample photos in these roundups are shot by our staff. In fact, we don’t talk about products at length in roundups like this unless we’ve done full reviews of them. But you can surely know that we’ve done all the research ourselves.
- We’d never recommend a product to you that we haven’t tested or that we really didn’t like. You can reference our linked reviews, for more information on this.
Tips on Choosing the Best Photo Books of Documentary Photography
We chose these as the best photo books of documentary photography looking for inspiration based on a variety of reasons. Part of that requires you to consider what these people are going through and what made them unique. They’re all making work that looks much different from one another. So here’s what you should consider when making a purchase.
- Do you need advice, inspiration, or ideas?
- Page through these books and actually read the text. We recommend doing that with the book slightly propped up and by diffused window lighting.
- Many of these books won our Editor’s Choice awards.