The Ten Best Photography Books of 2022
Smithsonian Magazine
Donny Bajohr, Jeff Campagna and Quentin Nardi
Our favorite titles this year invite viewers to worlds outside their own
As photo editors at Smithsonian magazine, one thing we really love about photography is that through this medium, freely extended to us, is a most extraordinary invitation—a front-row seat into a world we never even knew existed, let alone a world we might be a part of. Photo books, in particular, give us this wonderful opportunity to access these faraway worlds and personal spaces on an intimate level. As we set out to select our top ten photo books of 2022, this theme of windows into other worlds came up again and again.
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Flint Is Family in Three Acts from Chicago-based photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier captures the lives altered by the human-made water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Originally brought to Flint on assignment, Frazier found herself drawn to the community’s people. As the news cycle moved on, she stayed. Known for her collaborations with the communities she documents, Frazier worked with local poet Shea Cobb and others over the course of five years. Her images depict clean water protests, bottled water collecting, mothers and daughters, and communities coming together. In the last act, portraits show proud members of Flint collecting water from an enormous water filtering system, brought in not by government officials but by the community members themselves. —D.B.
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Courtesy of: Smithsonian Magazine
