
Pictured: Self-Portrait/Nursing, 2004; Gina & April, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1998; National March for Gay and Lesbian Rights (EAT THE RICH for Fire Island Artist Residency), 1984/2017. Chromogenic print. Courtesy the artist and Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, New York/Hong Kong/Seoul/London; Thomas Dane Gallery, London and Naples; and Peder Lund, Oslo
Catherine Opie
For nearly four decades, American fine art photographer Catherine Opie has captured the mainstream, the marginalised and the nuances of everyday life in contemporary America. Opie’s first survey monograph, published by Phaidon, charts the artist’s career since the early 1980s, paired with images across her expansive and varied bodies of work. From LGBT communities to Los Angeles freeways and ice-fishing villages in Minnesota, the book offers a full view of Opie’s politically charged, often-autobiographical cultural visions. Through compelling essays and never-before-published works, this hotly-anticipated tome offers a window into the iconic, subversive and poignant world of a true maverick in visual storytelling. Catherine Opie with essays by Hilton Als, Douglas Fogle, Helen Molesworth and Elizabeth A. T. Smith and an interview by Charlotte Cotton is published by Phaidon on 6 May, £100.
Writer: Harriet Lloyd-Smith

© Thomas Prior 2020 courtesy Loose Joints
Amen Break by Thomas Prior
Titled after a four bar drum solo that changed the course of music, Amen Break by Thomas Prior looks at New York’s standstill in 2020. Momentous issues around health, race and the economy compose a rhythm which will be present in the tune of history for years to come. As a documentary photographer, Prior’s perspective provides context to sensationalist snapshots of these times that many of us have become accustomed, and perhaps desensitised, to. Published by Loose Joints and printed as a large-format newspaper, the series is a thoughtful response to history happening in real time with proceeds benefiting NYC’s largest community food bank.
Writer: Sophie Gladstone

Spread of Lissa Rivera’s work as featured in New Queer Photography, edited by Benjamin Wolbergs
New Queer photography, by Benjamin Wolbergs
This meticulously researched book edited by Berlin-based Benjamin Wolbergs seeks to refocus the lens on contemporary queer life. Through the work of 40 documentary and fine art photographers, it highlights the breadth of sexualities, beyond taboos and societal constraints. Through striking visual storytelling, homosexuality, drag culture, gender roles, and transsexuality are explored as well as the rise of a young and active queer photography scene fuelled by social media. Four years in the works, the book is a playful and impassioned celebration of queer culture, and a critique of mainstream attitudes which, although appear to increasingly embrace gay, lesbian and transgender lives, can still result in marginalisation, isolation, and violence. It’s an exploration of private and public desires, eroticism, liberated and limitless sexualities, and the power of art to capture the evolution and contradictions of queer perceptions. Featured emerging and established photographers include Zanele Muholi, Florian Hetz, Damien Blottière, Ren Hang and Dustin Thierry. €58,00
nqp-book.com; benjaminwolbergs.de
Writer: Harriet Lloyd-Smith

Photography © Gareth Williams
Stuff Left by Gareth Williams
Revealing the strange chaos that often exists behind the scenes of photography, Gareth Williams has self published Stuff Left. Unclaimed ephemera from an East London studio are documented with an even eye, highlighting their absurdity. We are left wondering the story behind an art director’s discarded fake bible or an inflatable surfboard. Testament to William’s imaginative mind are the narratives he imagines attached to these objects, often anthropomorphising or sympathising with them. Alongside the joy in these curiosities, Williams hopes this past year has given us time to better consider the magnitude of objects we acquire and discard.
Writer: Sophie Gladstone

Lagos, Nigeria; Parallel Societies; London, United Kingdom. All featured in City Lust. © Charlie Koolhaas
City Lust, by Charlie Koolhaas
In City Lust, Koolhaas narrates a story of cultural and economic globalisation over the last two decades. Told through a personal lens, the book comprises written and photographic records of five cities: London, Guangzhou, Lagos, Dubai and Houston, in which the Rotterdam-based artist, writer and photographer has either lived or worked. These accounts, rich with poignancy, tension and an ample dose of humour, expose the unexpected commonalities between seemingly disparate cultures, and a global landscape rich with possibilities and rapid change. Koolhaas’ intimate chronicles of everyday life seek to cast an unbiased, and optimistic light on these political landscapes, the west’s diminishing influence, and the role of art in chronicling this evolution. Though conceived before the events of the last year – coronavirus, police brutality and the economic war between the US and China - City Lust is a timely and potent celebration of multiculturalism in an increasingly globalised world. €58.
charliekoolhaas.com; park-books.com
Writer: Harriet Lloyd-Smith

Courtesy of Daniel Diasgranados
Monograph by Daniel Diasgranados
Growing up in D.C, Maryland and Virginia, artist Daniel Diasgranados’ work is informed by experiences of being raised in this particular American environment. With fiction woven into documentary landscapes and still life imagery, Diasgranados unpicks constructed power narratives in the self-published ‘Monograph’. A 3D printed chain, toy dinosaurs, an inverted portrait, his mother gardening and a concrete hairbrush all have a role to play. Printed as a limited edition of 20 with two pressings, two are being donated towards a mental health scholarship as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, in collaboration with friend and fellow and photographer Ethan Hickerson. Available upon request via the artist.
Writer: Sophie Gladstone