As a little warm up for things to come - free for everyone - heres 5 new and recent PHOTOBOOKS from all over the world you should look at.

More info, and where to purchase.

Kaino E - Saad Alsharrah - La Maison de Z

suu - Taemin Ha - Chose Commune

The Colony - Liss Fenwick - Perimeter Editions

Mr&Mrs - Suwon Lee - RM and Goma Editora

Overtime - Margo Ovcharenko - Imageless

This is a new weekly photobook review/essay page. There is a lack of in-depth, thoughtful writing about photobooks; and there are few platforms internationally for such writing. I’m interested in engaging meaningfully with photobooks that intrigue, puzzle, or surprise me. I will tend towards writing about photobooks from the Asia-Pacific region, but not exclusively. You will discover new photobooks from small and large publishers, and from photobook-makers new, emerging and established.

Who am I?

I am Daniel Boetker-Smith, Director of the Centre for Contemporary Photography in Melbourne, Australia. I have curated dozens of exhibitions with the world’s leading photographers, and the most exciting young photographic talents in Australia and internationally. I have published over 50 essays, articles, and reviews in magazines, journals, and books internationally. I specialise in writing about photography, photobooks, and the image in printed form. I have written for: Over Journal, British Journal of Photography, FOAM Magazine, GUP Magazine, European Photography, Voices of Photography, Vault, Photoeye, Paper Journal, Heavy, Source, and other Australian and international publications.

I am the founder of the Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive (2013-), and I am an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Art at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

More about me

What will you get?

A weekly essay focused on one new or recently published photobook. Themes, subject matter, types of books, and publishers will all vary wildly from week to week. This is a place for me to write regularly with no parameters or limits set by magazines or editors, and to share it with an engaged audience. The format may be a long or short essay, a more traditional review, an interview with the photobook-maker, or a video of me discussing a photobook. I may also collaborate with or commission other writers, curators, or artists to produce an essay or review for this page.

No promotions

I will not be taking photobook submissions and I will not be promoting books. I will not be reviewing books sent or given to me. I will not be responding to requests to review books. I will simply choose a photobook each week, and endeavour to engage with it in a considered, thoughtful, provocative, and meaningful way. I will include links for you to buy the book, but I will not be asking you to do so.

All reviews and essays will be focused on new or recently released photobooks - ones that I have a physical copy of, I will not be reviewing PDFs or photographs of the books.

I will be posting once each week. Subscribers will get the full essay or review. Non-subscribers will receive just a short snippet of each review or essay.

Launching in October 2026