Photobooks, selected by Bryan Schutmaat

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Artist: Watabe Yukihi
Title: A Criminal Investigation
Publisher: Editions Xavier Barral
Year: 2011
BUY

This beautiful book made quite a splash a couple years ago – and for good reason. It’s one of my all-time favorites. It’s the most cinematic of any photobook there is, vividly reminiscent of  Kurosawa’s Stray Dog and a number of movies by Jean Luc Godard. In addition, it is beautifully designed and printed – a wonderful object.

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Artist: Andrea Modica
Title: Treadwell
Publisher: Chronicle
Year: 1996
BUY

I was late to catch the Treadwell train. An instructor of mine in grad school introduced me to this book only a couple of years ago, but it has quickly become a favorite. In the spirit of Gowin and Mann, Modica’s work is total fiction with a documentary voice. The photos are stunning. Such a surprising release from Chronicle.

Artist: Ron Jude
Title: Lick Creek Line
Publisher: MACK
Year: 2012
BUY

Ron Jude is a bookmaker’s bookmaker. Enough has been said about Lick Creek Line and why it’s brilliant, so I’ll steal a quote from Ingmar Bergman that he used to praise Tarkovsky, which is how I feel about Ron: “I have hammered on the doors of the rooms in which he moves so naturally. Only a few times have I managed to creep inside.”

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Artist: Marc F. Wise
Title: Truck Stop
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Year: 1995
BUY

One of my favorite photobooks is Truck Stop and it’s also one of the first I ever owned. It’s flawed but still has a place in my heart. It’s in the classic vein of American road trip photography, however I saw this book before I could tell you who Robert Frank or Stephen Shore even were, so it made a lasting impression on me and I’ve never stopped loving the wonderful photos within its pages.

Bryan Schutmaat is a Brooklyn-based photographer who has exhibited internationally and whose work has appeared in publications such as Hotshoe International, The Sunday Times Magazine, VICE, Bloomberg Businessweek and the New York Times.