Hardtack — Rahim Fortune. Published by Loose Joints.
Rahim was someone to watch after his 2021 book I can’t stand to see you cry and with Hardtack he has cemented himself as one of the best. This book is a portrait in itself comprised of portraits. Astutely observed and meticulously executed photographs of people, places and things. And although that might sound like most photobooks you can imagine, the reason it’s on my best of list is because of the particular elegance in the way he did it. It’s a portrait of Rahim's childhood region, The South with emphasis on Texas which, as Imani Perry said in her essay, was historically both the “Old South and the New World” - a place fraught with problematic history.
Ed Templeton (b.1972) is an American painter and photographer whose work reflects human behavior with emphasis on youth subcultures, religious affectation, and suburban conventions using a cinéma vérité approach embracing chance encounters. A respected cult figure in the subculture of skateboarding, Templeton is a two-time world-champion, and a Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee. He is best known for his photographic books and multimedia exhibitions. His work has been exhibited in museums worldwide including MOCA, Los Angeles, ICP, NYC, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, Kunsthalle, Vienna, Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco. His work is held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, SMAK Museum Belgium, Orange County Museum of Art, Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht.