How to publish your first photobook
The print fanatics behind IDEA, Loose Joints, Stanley/Barker, Mörel Books and Hato Press share their wisdom.
The following piece is part of our series on how to make it as a photographer in 2025. Check out previous editions here: curators and critics on what they look for, seasoned photographers on their best advice, learned wisdom on signing and better understanding client contracts, and photography prizes to apply for.
By Orla Brennan
In an age when most images are looked at for mere seconds, slipping swiftly into the abyss of our screens, the photo book is a very special thing. For many image-makers, the making of their first is a career-defining milestone – and with good reason. The best ones can put a photographer on the map. Nick Knight’s visceral Skinheads scored him a story for i-D in the late 80s, launching decades of revolutionary fashion images. Ryan McGinley’s charged portrait of New York youth, The Kids Were Alright, opened the doors to exhibitions around the world. While Hiromix’s intimate diary-style Girls Blue sparked a new wave of Japanese photography in the 1990s, later inspiring scenes in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation.
Cult monographs aside, books offer a meaningful way to honour personal projects and say something about who you are as an artist. They are worth doing well, even if you only sell ten copies and five are bought by your mum. But if you’ve never made one before, you might be wondering: what exactly is the best way to go about it? What makes a project book-worthy? How long should you wait? And how does one go about finding a publisher?
We spoke to some of the best independent publishers in the biz to find out – David Owen, co-founder of fashion-favourite IDEA Books; Lewis Chaplin of Marseille-based Loose Joints, who has published countless compelling debut monographs; Rachel Barker, one half of Stanley/Barker, renowned for its stirring documentary books; Aron Morel, founder of Mörel Books, which focuses on niche art titles; and Emete Kirton of Hato Press, risograph and zine specialist based in Hong Kong and London.
What are some of your favourite debut monographs? Why do they stand out as special to you?
David Owen, co-founder of IDEA Books: Of our own IDEA-published books, Nadia Lee Cohen’s Women for sure. That came out of the blue for us but not for Nadia. She shot that book over six years and never released the pictures while doing it. She didn’t even show them to the subjects in the book. Occasionally, we find an archive like that – unseen for decades – but it is very rare in contemporary photography, where the instinct is to share everything immediately on Instagram.
Rachel Barker, co-founder of Stanley/Barker Books: We have been incredibly lucky to publish many debut monographs, such as Lisa Barlow's Holy Land U.S.A. and Mike Smith's Streets of Boston. Largely these are works that may have been overlooked for one reason or another at the time. In 2020 we released Judith Black's Pleasant Street which featured intimate portraits of her and her family in Massachusetts in the late 1970s. It hadn't been published before and deserved to be seen. The work was covered by many media outlets and Judith was selected by Paris Photo for the Elles x Paris Photo's women in photography after it was released. It showed the power a book can have in an artist's career, bringing them to the forefront.
Lewis Chaplin, co-founder of Loose Joints: I Can’t Stand to See You Cry by Rahim Fortune comes to mind immediately – it’s a raw and autobiographical project, filled with tenderness and trauma, but also joy and community. Rahim was extremely trusting and open with Sarah [Chaplin Espenon, co-founder of Loose Joints] to allow her into this very personal story and excavate a striking book that went on to win many awards. And then Somewhere 2017–2023 by Sam Youkilis was another strong debut – he was already widely followed online, but translating that observational approach into a carefully constructed book gave the work a completely different weight. Many books like Sam’s are really born in the studio, where we develop the ideas together in person with the artist over a few days.
What’s your best advice for an emerging photographer wanting to publish their first book?
Emete Kirton, co-founder of HATO Press: Don’t fall into the trap of thinking it has to be a traditional hardback coffee table book that appeals to the masses. If you can’t find a publisher, then make it yourself, as many as you can or want to. You decide the value of your work – no one else.
Aron Morel, founder of MÖREL books: Think of publishers as record labels. If you are making K-pop don't go to a death metal label just because you love how big they are or how strong the marketing seems. Firstly, you’ll likely be rejected. Secondly, even if they do take your book on, you won't get results as good as if you had the right connection. There are a bunch of publishers that are constantly looking for exciting new material, like Patrick Frey, Super Labo, Little Big Man, Witty, APE, as well as zine publishers. We run a zine series with the MEP (Maison Européenne de la Photographie) for each exhibition which is a great way for us to hear about artists as well as pushing work further than the walls of a museum.