Alec Soth's 10 favorite photobooks from 2022 

These videos have become some of my favorite things to watch in the last couple years. I find them incredibly informative. I learn so much w every video. Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts w us.

Very interesting collection. a couple observations: - did you notice that all the subjects of "After Children" are girls? It would be interesting to see what the author might say about the fruit and the strictly female subject matter. - the messages embedded within the tattoos scattered throughout "Odesa" really add depth to the content - thanks for the "Magic Hour" podcast recommendation - I subscribed and downloaded a few of the past interviews/discussions to listen to this weekend - the Judith Joy Ross book, while it looks to be a fairly traditional photobook, that coloration you highlight just gives it a feel of authenticity (not the right word, but one that seems to fit best for me) - I love a good street photography book - I wish this genre was more considered for the art that it is. But "Pickpocket" just seems to be a wholly unique work of art on its own. Thanks for such a great list!

Where are you Alec? Waiting for your next video.

Alec, thank you for taking the time to put this video together. It's nice to get a better glimpse that otherwise we wouldn't be able to see, and to hear your thoughts on these is such an education. Nicely done, sir.

I wish that photography had never been absorbed by the "art" world. I wish it were left completely alone to move, or not move, whomever. I find nothing more excruciating than a handful of cork sniffing critics who deem what is awful, good, great, and sublime. A great photograph is any photo that moved the shooter or the viewer. Simple as that. If someone appreciates Yokonami for taking portraits of the same young girls several years apart with vegetables on their shoulder...great. But, PLEASE don't try to convince me that it's sublime art just because of its hyper obscurity. Way too much of the photography world is poisoned by these people.

Hi Alec, I've been browsing the year end lists and found this video to be a nice companion piece to your photobookstore list. The context of seeing a bit of the book while you explain is wonderful. After looking through the lists and trying to determine which books I should buy with the relatively limited resources I have, one thing I've been asking myself is what do I want out of owning these books? Of course everyone is different but perhaps you have something to say about this. For example, do I really want to surround myself with work that looks similar to what I aspire to? Does that limit my experience of the world and potential? Baldwin Lee, Curran Hatleberg, and Alessandra Sanguinetti seem to be on everyone's list. Is that somehow like when social media photos go viral but often those images have less to tell us. Maybe not since I'm looking at lists by critical thinkers and not just the aggregated public. Possibly one way to relate is to consider what I want out of a novel, a film, or music. Maybe I'm answering my own question as I type but I'd love to hear your thoughts. And thank you for your enduring contributions to the photoland landscape.

Dear Alec! Do you know the photographer Jan Bernhardtz? He published 5 small photo books about Berlin (on his own). Best regards Petra

I miss your videos so much, Alec. Hope you'll be back soon with more interesting videos and reviews of new exciting photobooks!

♥️ ODESA 🇺🇦 is an amazing body of work! It’s reminiscent of Rineke Dijkstra’s youth portraits some of which she took in the city of Odesa by the way, on the shores of Black Sea in Ukraine.

Beautiful books, thanks. On 38:00ff, I don’t know if someone mentioned that already, but Hafiz is also one of the most famous classical persian poets, who has a special place in Iranian hearts. His work is transcending religion into a playful view on life, maybe like the girls on the cover mimicking the cover of the Q‘ran. I believe that the photo progression in the book might also reflect on the progressions of Sura in the Q‘ran. A truly great work!

It took me to 7 and a half mins to realise they are all wearign the same outfit

I think I love this channel. These are so enjoyable, edifying and, actually, relaxing. Thank you for making these vids, Alec. The range of photo books and photographers you bring are often surprising. Thank you.

Very good. Light in the darkest days. Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

Great video as always. And more importantly, you have to sell me one of the mushroom hats!!! i need it

For those who are interested in seeing the work of Judith Joy Ross in person, there is an excellent exhibition of her work in Fotomuseum Den Haag (The Hague, Netherlands) until the end of March.

This channel deserves far more subscribers. Would recommend it to every (aspiring) photographer. And thanks for the list, I've discovered several interesting artists I had never heard of. Nice Christmas present :)

The emptiness/banality is chilling.

Appreciate you taking the time to make these videos. Great per usual

Great that you have not just picked photographers that are well known or from the same publishers as yourself. Your "Pound of Pictures" is 100% one of the events and books of the year. I managed to get hold of one of the special editions with the original vernacular photos, it was a genius idea. Really makes it feel like a special item.

I really like your bookshelf idea displaying the covers. I just did the same with a few ikea picture shelves (malmbäck), I had on hand. Just thought I'd bring it up here in case anyone else wanted to do the same inexpensively and easily. I had to drill a few new hole to ensure they were mounted into studs, but it was simple and looks great!

Great selection Alec. Inspiring. Hope to see you in Odessa again and in Kyiv. Love your calm videos. Has a therapeutic effect on me. 😁

Perhaps, the fruits and veggies used for the portraits may symbolize the "maturity", like the process of time passing, quickly evident with any vegetable, and so evident here with the portraits, though the timelime is different; but maybe to suggest that coming to "maturity", as a human being (I mean, stepping from childhood to pre-teenagehood) comes so fast, like the maturity of a veggie. the fruit is thent represented intact, not rotten, as if to say human maturity is quicker than veggies' one ? (I've got a lot of fever, pardon me is what I write sounds stupid or nonsense, and my english sucks, I'm french; Fever is not a excuse, I admit, but beeing french may be one ;) And thank you for this video Monsieur Soth. All my best Sir. Maud.

Thanks Alec for this video. Sabiha Çimen’s book cover style is referenced to book of Kuran. Also decorations are the same. I wanted to add this just. All the best from Turkey

So nice to be introduced to other artists, photographers who I would never have come across. I’m guessing that little collection must have set you back a buck or two. Keep buying, keep showing.

Marvelous! Thanks for introducing these great artist to us. Sabiha Çimen sticked with me a lot. I will follow her more closely.

Can you please make one for 2023? 🙏

Mushroom Dad has entered the chat.

You have a great way of introducing photographers - I always come away with new ideas. Thank you.

Thank you for the insight. It is great to be introduced to new work.

I discover your channel recently and I just can say your videos are such a genuine motivation for all of us. Regards from spain

I think there will be a lot of comments trying to guess the meaning of the pictures of children with the fruit. Like me. 😂 I'm not sure, but fruit in Japan is not just a food, it's also a "valuable product" that can be given as a gift. There may be a relationship here of something fragile, but valuable, like children, life children. But there is beauty in there, and there is affection in the way children hold the fruit in a fragile, delicate and precarious way. The fruits that appear in the book are ripe fruits, which contrasts with children. But there is also a size relationship between fruits and children at their two ages. The fruits are approximately the same size, the children grow. But this is me guessing. But it's intriguing.

These videos are amazing input picking into the mind of a great knowledgable photographer who loves photobooks. Keep the good work

Thanks a lot Alec 🙏🏻 some gems in there

Fantastic video. A great overview of the tapestry of modern photography

as always, thank you for sharing. love hearing your thoughts on photography.

Thank you for the shoutout, Alec! ✨

i appreciate you for sharing. thank you.

Thank you for this interesting list! It was good to watch you again!

I often “watch” Alec’s videos when I am driving. Particularly this one episode made me feel like he was driving with me on the passenger seat and just casually pulled out a book and started reading in his very calming voice.

thanks for your insight Alec, appreciate your efforts

I’m so thankful for the time and thought you put into these videos. I’ve discovered so much great work because of this series.

That yellow feeling

Thank you very much for letting us see these wonderful photobooks. Sincerily.

My favourite book from the last years is called "About us" about contemporary chinese photography. I learned increadibly much from this book and found one of the best books, I ever held in my hands: "The yellow river" from Zhang Kechun:)

please do your favorites from 2023 :)

I appreciate being so genuine and honest when introducing "After Children", these were my first thoughts too but normally I'd never say them out loud. I am glad to see its okay to do it!

Your neuroticism is inspiring - you are really conscientious and apply yourself fully to these videos - it's beautiful. thankyou!

My guess is that the fruit/vegetables are there for scale! So you can see how the children have grown. Maybe I'm wrong and it's just there to be weird!

Thanks for making this and all your videos. That’s all I wanted to say, really, I greatly appreciate your sharing your time and insights.

Oh wow, nice new bookshelf, i like it ! Thxs for sharing these 10 fav' of yours and your toughts. As usual, your video made my day 🙏🏻

anyone know what the yellow book to the right of Alec’s head next to Munro de Papel is called? (In the intro shot) looks interesting

I loved your list. Thanks for all the hard work!

It would be cool to know which photobooks you consider the best of all time.

Thanks for making this, Alec. I loved hearing your insight and perspective and as a bonus, got put on to some photographers I hadn’t heard of. Appreciate the content. Keep it up

The fruits etc are often used in fashion photography. No particular reasoning. Sometimes as a mere prop for colour etc I see these in After Children as a punctum.

Hello Alec, is there any hope for new videos? Best Regards:)

always great to see a new video appear from you Alec. Thanks for sharing your favorites

Wonderful! Thank you for putting this together, Alec! 🙏🏽

5:00 ish - I'd guess this was his way of adding a splash of color to what is otherwise an almost monochrome shot?

Do you pick and pay for these books yourself or you normally get them for free?

Missing your long form videos. Hope you have a few in the works.

Thaks for sharing. Regards from Spain.

Whats the name of the podcast from the publisher of the 3d book??

Hafiz! I want this book! So beautiful! ❤

Thought you were going to include the Talia Chetrit book too

Hi, i’m Abdulgani, 24 year old photographer,from Turkey, i saw your video in story of Sabiha Çimen who is one of my favourite photographers. And i have to say watching the video was very joyfully. Secondly I really admire your style of explaining yourself cause you easily say that you don’t know things which does need to courage i think. Also admire you while you tell what you like about the books. Thanks a lot Alec ❤🎉

All Hail Daniel

Thanks so much for sharing Alec! I have gathered a wealth of knowledge regarding the photo book and photography through your videos this year! Forever grateful :)

Excellent. Thank you!

Although you don’t like the idea of “excluding” by listing isn’t the irony that photography is the art of excluding things (from the frame and from an edit) and the artist’s ego is the driving force in those decisions. Thus, you are, by definition, the right person to do this!

I greatly admire your work and am so thankful for the content you provide on your channel but I feel it's important to say that I rely heavily on closed captions to help me follow and learn. I can't help but love supplementing the video content with this introspective and playful dialogue and it's clear juxtaposition to the photobook as a videobook of sorts- I would hate to loose that because creatively I love it. Some brains are different though and the world is rarely bending to let us in. Perhaps there is a way to negotiate this that doesn't sacrifice that entry point. I say this with respect and thanks for what you share.

I thought that when you would stop this series I would stop buying photobooks, however the oppositie is true. I cant just hide my curiousity. You trained me down to ignore my education as an architect, follow my intuition and step in to the deepest depts to explore the unknown Alec.

Thank you very much for this video. One of the things that annoys me in the art photography world is the collectors-item-artificial-scarcity thing. Isn't one of the main points of photography that it can be infinitely reproduced? If you want scarcity, make a painting... 🙂

thanks so much!!! :)

Dear Alec... You sound as though you don't really like to do lists, so why do them? If you do them, stop complaining!

Thank you Alec for your time and energy to show us this amazing selection of books and introduce them so well. It was very enjoyable. Look forward to watching other videos from you.

I often find myself revisiting these videos and I’ve noticed that as my priorities and interests change over time I’m drawn towards and get excited by new revelations every time

Just placed order for Some Say Ice. Wow that book looks fantastic. All the best for 2023 Alec.

Thanks Alec! These suggestions of yours are so dense of infos along with your so experienced point of you as a photographer and as photobook lover. Gold!

Great to hear about this small selection. I loved already some of those books, that I also crushed on. And it's great to see your perspective around them. Thanks a lot. : )

Thank you for this and all the other videos. I have binge watched all of them over the last two weeks. They are created in such a thoughtful, enthusiastic, genuine and generous spirit. I have found them very educational and inspiring.

thank You .

Outstanding

love

thank you for sharing I would like to be able to buy everything, really beautiful books that I did not know. especially Odessa! wow too! I love your cap with mushroom or can I buy one?

Love the cap. helps keep the self in check. 😄

What did you use for shelves to hold the books? I'd love to do something similar!

The pleasure of good photographs.

such a great work, thank you!

thank you, Alec!

Alec, you need to learn to type.

Thank you Alec!

Thank you Alec. Your preface to the list made it that much more enjoyable to watch. Wondering if you received and had a chance to look at Rock, Paper, Scissors which was sent to you by David? Merry Christmas! 🎉

Plz, where is that hat from ?!?

To me it feels boring and superficial.

If you can minimize your "uhh"s and "umm"s, it will be easier to get through your video.

Really bad taste lol

Thank you Alec. Hope you have a good Christmas

Brilliant watch! 🏆❤️