The Observer Decameron—Tenth Day

Hold Still
Sally Mann
Photographer Sally Mann reveals in this autobiography that she is as astute a writer as she is photographer. Mann lets us into her life in the Blue Ridge Mountains, photographing her three children and the surrounding landscape. This book was revealing and riveting. My favorite book of the year!

Variations on a Rectangle
DJ Stout
It’s hard to believe the influence that graphic designer DJ Stout has had on an entire generation of up-and-coming designers. From his eye-opening use of typography to using the art of cutting edge illustrators and photographers like a maestro—Variations on a Rectangle is a must have for any creative person.

N.A.
Z. Redman, Doug Rickard
Doug Rickard challenges the foundations of photography by immersing himself in homemade Youtube videos and finding his own compositional narratives, unjoined from the video, and re-presented to us as still photographs. This book reveals the dark underbelly of America like you have never seen it before.

Grand Budapest Hotel
Matt Zoller Seitz
What’s not to love about filmmaker Wes Anderson’s work and the book design of Martin Venezky? You get both in this book. Venezky’s masterful design balancing act succeeds without taking center stage—exhibiting the maturity and innovation it takes to pull off such a feat.

The Birth of Rock and Roll
Jim Linderman, Joe Bonomo
Collector extraordinaire and Grammy nominee Jim Linderman presents his outstanding collection of anonymous, found snapshots that reveals rock and roll did not just happen like the Big Bang, but slowly emerged in basements, garages, lodge halls, and juke joints all across the country. With great writing by Joe Bonomo, would it be wrong of me to say this book rocks?

The Hereditary Estate: Photographs of Dan Coburn
Karen Irvine, Kirsten Pai Buick
Photographer Dan Coburn photographed his family for this powerful, image-driven book. Here’s what an emerging top photographer looks like. His work is unquestionably innovative, and his photographs at times makes you feel uncomfortable, and with that—I’d say he succeeded.

Southern Rites
Gillian Laub
The subject of race relations in Montgomery County, Georgia, would not be an easy subject for a photographer to penetrate. This book, with color plates and firsthand testimony by Laub, is just further proof that racial equality is far from complete in America. This is a first rate photo documentary that continued with Laub’s directorial debut on HBO earlier this year.

Welcome to Marwencol
Mark E. Hogancamp
Mark Hogankamp was nearly beaten to death and left for dead outside a bar in his hometown of Kingston, New York. After he awoke from a nine-day coma and completed therapy to re-enter the world, he began creating a fictional Belgian town called Marwencol, complete with U.S. soldiers, Nazi’s, and Barbie dolls. Hogenkamp found peace and redemption in his backyard fantasy set ups, and his astonishing photographs take us into a believable place.

Kerry James Marshall: Look See
Robert Storr, Angela Choon
Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955) gives us fourteen new paintings for the occasion of his first exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery in London. Marshall is one of the top artists in the United States, always exploring the representation of African Americans in society, culture, and art history.

Black Dolls: Unique African American Dolls from the Collection of Deborah Neff 1850–1930
Margo Jefferson
If you love authenticity in folk art, look no further than this book which presents over 100 lovingly played-with and handled cloth black dolls from 1850 to 1930. The essay by Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Margo Jefferson perfectly complements the lush photographs by Ellen McDermott. As a bonus, collector Neff includes a group of vernacular images of children (white and black) playing with similar cloth dolls—putting all of this in context. Great essays by renowned artist Faith Ringgold and writer Lyle Rexer are included.