Photographers have produced photobooks—bound collections of their work—since photography's beginnings in the early nineteenth century. While some regard the individual print as their work's fullest expression, many see the photobook as the most essential and accessible means of bringing their vision to a wider audience. This book tells photography's history through the photobook, revealing how photographers influenced one another through their publications and how their work consequently evolved.
 
It presents works by celebrated photographers, from William Henry Fox Talbot, Walker Evans and August Sander to Larry Clark and Nobuyoshi Araki, alongside Man Ray, Brassaï and Christer Strömholm. The authors also introduce innovative books by little-known or anonymous makers, rediscovering exciting and unjustly neglected work.
 
The first volume of an in-depth two-part study, it explores more than two hundred photobooks through 750 colour illustrations, detailed captions and an outstanding text by photographer and critic Gerry Badger. The selections were made by Badger and renowned photographer Martin Parr, whose passion for photobooks has established him as an international authority. They chose books that, in their view, shaped the genre's history artistically and culturally. The illustrations highlight individual photographs while also presenting the books as three-dimensional objects and works of art in their own right.