Once again, I found it impossible to keep my list of the best photography books of the past year to a neat Top 10, and even this sprawling Top 20 is straining at its limits: Both Irving Penn and Daido Moriyama are represented by two titles each. With the growing recognition of photography's importance, not just historically but in the moment, publishers are attempting to supply a demand that only a few of them fully understand or appreciate. The result is more but not necessarily better books; for all the worthy titles gathered here, there are very few that succeed in matching intelligent design—one that gives careful consideration to reproduction, format, binding, typeface, and sequencing—with important content. Still, the sheer volume of new photo books is exciting and encouraging to any photo aficionado, especially when it includes such genuinely substantial projects as the definitive seven-volume edition... More >>>