Molly’s Top 10 Photo Books of 2025
Holiday Gift Ideas for the Photographer on Your Christmas List
It’s always a challenge to find the best gift for your favorite photographer, or friends. Molly Rob shares her 2025 Top 10 Photo books list here, and coming up Joe Giordano shares his, and our guest Daniel Agee shares his on Episode 171. How do you pick a favorite photo book? Good luck! There are so many options from artistic aesthetics to photojournalistic importance, it’s hard to choose. Molly made this list, which includes a few from guests this season (go check out those episodes) as well as some historically important new releases. Feel free to comment with your favorites if you don’t see them here!
Constant Bloom
Lucas Foglia (10FPS Episode 154 Guest)
Foglia followed the world’s longest butterfly migration path, that of the Painted Lady butterfly, and found that their survival has been altered by climate change, just as many migrants met along the same path have had to migrate for survival. In Constant Bloom, the longest butterfly migration becomes a metaphor for connection across international borders.
Art Work
Sally Mann
Sally Mann’s latest book addresses the challenges and transcendent pleasures of the creative process. A unique artist and writer, she serves her observations with a big dose of homespun humor, but also her deep reverence for being true to your intuition and creative spirit.
Trembling Earth
David Walter Banks (10FPS Episode 164 Guest)
A unique take on revealing the magic of place, Banks transforms a landscape using spectacular lighting to evoke the spirit of nature and create a depth of feeling visual.
Trembling Earth: A Transcendental Trip Through the Okefenokee – Bitter Southerner General Store
Strange Love
Seamus Murphy (10FPS Episode 145 Guest)
Murphy explores the strange synchronicities between the American rust belt and Russian industrial landscapes and illustrates that we have more in common than we think we do.
The Jazz Pictures
Lisette Model
For 10 years Lisette Model documented the vibrancy of the 1950’s Jazz scene in NYC but her book was essentially squashed by investigations into her politics by the House Un-American Activities Committee for purported connections to the Communist Party. Now the work is finally realized in this new book.
Swimmers
Larry Sultan
Work produced by Larry Sultan at public pools in NYC between 1978-1982 is now collected into a mesmerizing book of wild color and whirling abstractions of human bodies as they learned to swim.
The Weight of Ash
Ian Bates
A collection of images depicting the aftermath of wildfires in California, taken between 2014 and 2020, Bates’ images show the beauty and terror of landscapes consumed by flames, and visualize the inner dread we hold for the destructive possibilities of climate change
Occupied Territories: Stories from The West Bank, Gaza, and Lebanon
Fabio Bucciarelli
For over a decade, Bucciarelli has documented Israel’s occupation across Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon. While he tries to avoid politicizing suffering, given Israel’s relentless conduct of war in Gaza, this body of work is a testament to the recurring violence and displacement, reveals the consequences of a brutal occupation.
The Anthropocene Illusion
Zed Nelson
For over six years, and across four continents, Zed Nelson has explored how we humans immerse ourselves in increasingly choreographed and simulated environments to mask our destructive impact on the natural world. World Photo, Photographer of the Year
Emerald Drifters
Cig Harvey
Described by the author as an “urgent call to live” Harvey’s exploration of vibrant color in landscapes, still lives and human interaction in the world are richly rendered and intoxicating.
Emerald Drifters | Standard Edition | 9781580936873 – Phaidon
Birds of a Feather
Claire Rosen
Birds of a Feather is a new photobook by Claire Rosen presenting 120 color portraits of live birds, set against opulent, historically inspired backdrops. Rosen’s fascination with the natural world is in full display as she creates these colorful portraits enhancing the individuality of each species.