Photobooks & presents and interrogates key themes of the contemporary photobook — from the medium’s post-digital and post-photographic situation, to the purposes of publishing, issues of accessibility and the act of reading. Informed by extensive research, interviews with key individuals* from the photobook ecology and his experience with The Photobook Club project, Johnstonexamines current trends and practices, emphasising connections (made and missed) between makers and readers. Ultimately, this book proposes a critical framework for considering our uses and encounters with the photobook, calling for a recalibration of a maker-centric discourse to address the communicative potential of the medium: aligning making, with making public.
*Including: Alejandro Acin, Eman Ali, Mathieu Asselin, Sarah Bodman, Bruno Ceschel, Natasha Christia, Tiffany Jones, Michael Mack, Amak Mahmoodian, Lesley Martin, Tate Shaw, Doug Spowart, Anshika Varma and Amani Willett.