Paris Photo and Aperture are pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2025 Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards—an annual celebration of the photobook’s enduring role within the evolving narrative of photography. Now in its thirteenth year, the awards recognize excellence in three major categories of photobook publishing: First PhotoBook, PhotoBook of the Year, and Photography Catalog of the Year.
This year, Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards received over one thousand books from fifty-five countries around the world, including standout entries from Ecuador, Lesotho, Uruguay, and Vietnam. On September 17–19, the 2025 shortlist jury met in New York for three concentrated days of review and deliberation by an international team: Brendan Embser, senior editor, Aperture; Florian Koenigsberger, technologist and photographer; Paul Moakley, executive producer, The New Yorker; Anna Planas, artistic director, Paris Photo; and Keisha Scarville, artist.
“The 2025 PhotoBook Awards shortlist represents an extraordinary range of artistic styles, geographic perspectives, and design innovation, showing how the photobook remains one of the most compelling and effective vehicles for storytelling today,” says Brendan Embser. “From catalogs that consider how digital images have entered the hard drive of our lives, to intensely personal chronicles of individuals facing the extremities of politics and the desire for freedom, these publications speak to a year of vitality and achievement by independent publishers and artists.” Anna Planas adds, “Displayed on the balconies of the Grand Palais during Paris Photo, the shortlisted titles of the PhotoBook Awards will captivate an international audience and stand as one of the most anticipated highlights of the fair.”
The shortlisted books will be exhibited at Paris Photo, open to the public from November 13 through November 16, followed by an international tour, including in New York at Printed Matter, in January 2026, among other venues to be announced.
On Thursday, November 13, a final jury composed of five members will meet in Paris to select the winners for all three prizes, which will be revealed on Friday, November 14, at 3:00 p.m. (CET), at a ceremony at Paris Photo, and announced on Aperture.org and Parisphoto.com.
Below, see the thirty-seven selected titles for the 2025 PhotoBook Awards shortlist.
First PhotoBook
Eleonora Agostini, A Study on Waitressing, Witty Books, Turin, Italy. Design by Massimiliano Pace
Genesis Báez, Blue Sun / Sol Azul, Capricious Publishing, New York. Design by Studio Lin
Hélène Bellenger, Bianco Ordinario, Editions de l’Observeur, Vinzelles, France. Design by Hugo Berger and Eleonora Paciullo
Widline Cadet, Ritual [Dis]Appearance / Seremoni Disparisyon, Black Mountains Studio, Los Angeles. Design by Blake Duncanson and Widline Cadet
Daniel Chatard, Niemandsland, The Eriskay Connection, Breda, the Netherlands. Design by Carel Fransen
Louise Desnos, Acedia, Witty Books, Turin, Italy. Design by Ilaria Miotto
Salome Erni, Interesting Things, Self-published, The Hague. Design by Salome Erni
Alanna Fields, Unveiling, Meteoro Editions, Amsterdam. Design by Brian Paul Lamotte
Christine Furuya-Gössler, Photographs (1978–1985), Chose Commune, Marseille, France. Design by Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi and Perrine Serre
Farid Renais Ghimas, Angan-Angan Harsa, Jordan, jordan Édition, Jakarta. Design by Jordan Marzuki
Mohamed Hassan, Our Hidden Room, Ediciones Posibles, Fundación Photographic Social Vision, and Editorial RM, Barcelona; PHREE, Madrid. Design by Brian Carroll
Balarama Heller, Sacred Place, TIS Books, New York. Design by Balarama Heller, David Schnapper, and Carl Wooley
Daniel Stephen Homer, Route de la belle etoile (Route of the beautiful star), GOST Books, London. Design by GOST
Frida Lisa Carstensen Jersø, Frida Forever, Disko Bay, Copenhagen. Design by Spine Studio
Heba Khalifa, Tiger’s Eye, Self-published, Waziz Books, Cairo. Design by Nike Dieterich
Mahmoud Khattab, The Dog Sat Where We Parted, Self-published, Cairo. Design by Mahmoud Khattab
András Ladocsi, There Is a Big River . . ., VOID, Athens. Design by João Linneu and Myrto Steirou
Martha Naranjo Sandoval, Small Death, MACK, London. Design by Martha Naranjo Sandoval and Morgan Crowcroft-Brown
Alick Phiri, Lusaka Street, Art Paper Editions, Ghent, Belgium. Design by Jurgen Maelfeyt
Clara Simas, My father died three times / Meu pai morreu três vezes, Propágulo, Recife, Brazil. Design by Clara Simas and Estúdio Ligatura
Next
Eleonora Agostini
A Study on Waitressing
Witty Books, Turin, Italy
Design by Massimiliano Pace
Genesis Báez
Blue Sun / Sol Azul
Capricious Publishing, New York
Design by Studio Lin
Hélène Bellenger
Bianco Ordinario
Editions de l’Observeur, Vinzelles, France
Design by Hugo Berger and Eleonora Paciullo
Widline Cadet
Ritual [Dis]Appearance / Seremoni Disparisyon
Black Mountains Studio, Los Angeles
Design by Blake Duncanson and Widline Cadet
Daniel Chatard
Niemandsland
The Eriskay Connection, Breda, the Netherlands
Design by Carel Fransen
Louise Desnos
Acedia
Witty Books, Turin, Italy
Design by Ilaria Miotto
Salome Erni
Interesting Things
Self-published, The Hague
Design by Salome Erni
Alanna Fields
Unveiling
Meteoro Editions, Amsterdam
Design by Brian Paul Lamotte
Christine Furuya-Gössler
Photographs (1978–1985)
Chose Commune, Marseille, France
Design by Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi and Perrine Serre
Farid Renais Ghimas
Angan-Angan Harsa
Jordan, jordan Édition, Jakarta
Design by Jordan Marzuki
Mohamed Hassan
Our Hidden Room
Ediciones Posibles, Fundación Photographic Social Vision, and Editorial RM, Barcelona; PHREE, Madrid
Design by Brian Carroll
Balarama Heller
Sacred Place
TIS Books, New York
Design by Balarama Heller, David Schnapper, and Carl Wooley
Daniel Stephen Homer
Route de la belle etoile (Route of the beautiful star)
GOST Books, London
Design by GOST
Frida Lisa Carstensen Jersø
Frida Forever
Disko Bay, Copenhagen
Design by Spine Studio
Heba Khalifa
Tiger’s Eye
Self-published, Waziz Books, Cairo
Design by Nike Dieterich
Mahmoud Khattab
The Dog Sat Where We Parted
Self-published, Cairo
Design by Mahmoud Khattab
András Ladocsi
There Is a Big River, in Which There Is a Big Island, in Which There Is a Lake, in Which There Is an Island, in Which There Is a Small House, Where a Life Is Growing in a Womb
VOID, Athens
Design by João Linneu and Myrto Steirou
Martha Naranjo Sandoval
Small Death
MACK, London
Design by Martha Naranjo Sandoval and Morgan Crowcroft-Brown
Alick Phiri
Lusaka Street
Art Paper Editions, Ghent, Belgium
Design by Jurgen Maelfeyt
Clara Simas
My father died three times / Meu pai morreu três vezes
Propágulo, Recife, Brazil
Design by Clara Simas and Estúdio Ligatura
PhotoBook of the Year
Hicham Benohoud, The Classroom, Loose Joints Publishing, Marseille, France / London. Design by Loose Joints Studio
Soumya Sankar Bose, A Discreet Exit Through Darkness & Things We Lost Last Night, Self-published / Red Turtle Photobook and Mandas, Kolkata, India. Design by Barnali Bose
Pippa Garner, Personal Ads, Art Paper Editions, Ghent, Belgium. Design by Jurgen Maelfeyt
Pia-Paulina Guilmoth, Flowers Drink the River, STANLEY/BARKER, London. Design by ramel·luzoir
Katherine Hubbard, The Great Room, Loose Joints Publishing, Marseille, France / London. Design by Loose Joints Studio
Edgar Martins, Anton’s Hand Is Made of Guilt. No Muscle or Bone. He Has a Gung-Ho Finger & a Grief-Stricken Thumb.,
The Moth House, Bedford, United Kingdom. Design by Pedro Falcão
Jorge Panchoaga, Kalabongó, Editorial RM and Musuk Nolte, Barcelona. Design by Estudio Herrera
Bharat Sikka, Ripples in the Pond, Fw:Books, Amsterdam. Design by Hans Gremmen
Éva Szombat, Echo in Delirium, Symposion and Everybody Needs Art, Budapest. Design by Anna Bárdy
Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, INDEX 2025, Roma Publications, Amsterdam. Design by Roger Willems
Next
Photography Catalog of the Year
Black Chronicles: Photography, Race and Difference in Victorian Britain. Edited by Renée Mussai, Thames & Hudson and Autograph, London. Design by Fraser Muggeridge Studio
Calamita/á: An Investigation into the Vajont Catastrophe. Edited by Gianpaolo Arena and Marina Caneve, Fw:Books, Amsterdam. Design by Hans Gremmen
Donna Gottschalk and Hélène Giannecchini: Nous Autres (We Others). Edited by Nathalie Chapuis and Camille Cibot, Atelier EXB and LE BAL, Paris. Design by Coline Aguettaz
Generalized Visual Resistance: Photobooks and Liberation Movements. Edited by Catarina Boieiro and Raquel Schefer, ATLAS, Lisbon. Design by Teo Furtado and Ana Schefer
The Lure of the Image. Edited by Marco De Mutiis, Gwendolyn Fässler, Doris Gassert, and Alessandra Nappo, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, and Spector Books, Leipzig, Germany. Design by UNSTATED
Paiter Suruí, Gente de verdade: Um projeto do Coletivo Lakapoy. Edited by Thyago Nogueira, Txai Suruí, and Lahayda Mamani Poma, Instituto Moreira Salles, São Paulo. Design by Estúdio Daó
Next
Generalized Visual Resistance: Photobooks and Liberation Movements
Edited by Catarina Boieiro and Raquel Schefer
ATLAS, Lisbon
Design by Teo Furtado and Ana Schefer
The Lure of the Image
Edited by Marco De Mutiis, Gwendolyn Fässler, Doris Gassert, and Alessandra Nappo
Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, and Spector Books, Leipzig, Germany
Design by UNSTATED
Paiter Suruí, Gente de verdade: Um projeto do Coletivo Lakapoy
Edited by Thyago Nogueira, Txai Suruí, and Lahayda Mamani Poma
Instituto Moreira Salles, São Paulo
Design by Estúdio Daó
Special Mention
Wolfgang Tillmans: Nothing Could Have Prepared Us—Everything Could Have Prepared Us. Edited by Florian Ebner and Olga Frydryszak-Rétat, Centre Pompidou, Paris, and Spector Books, Leipzig, Germany. Design by deValence
The 2025 PhotoBook Awards winners will be announced at Paris Photo on Friday, November 14.