I Imagined It Empty — Ruth Lauer Manenti. Published by RM/PHREE/Ediciones Posibles.
“My mother rarely let me photograph her except in the last week of her life when she changed her mind. Each day as she approached her death, she became more beautiful.” — Ruth Lauer Manenti
It is sometimes the quietest books that have the most profound impact. Ruth Lauer Manenti's images, taken of her mother and the house she lived in shortly before she passed, have such a light and airy minimal quality that they almost become symbolic universal representations (Mother, Bed, Apple, Bowl, Cloth, Table), as Manenti records the small daily tasks of caring for a loved one.
The book design works perfectly in service to the quiet photographs, from the cover image printed on gently textured fabric, to the toothy paper, thin enough that a delicate ghost image of the next photograph shows faintly through. This book is both a visual and a tactile experience, like holding a beautiful piece of old linen, fragile but strong, subtly textured, and is a pleasure to page through.
Todd Hido (born in Kent, Ohio, 1968) wanders endlessly, taking lengthy road trips in search of imagery that connects with his own memories. Through his unique landscape process and signature color palette, Hido alludes to the quiet and mysterious side of suburban America—where uniform communities provide a stable façade, implying the instability that often lies behind the walls.
Hido has published more than a dozen books, including the award-winning monographs House Hunting (2001) and Excerpts from Silver Meadows (2013). He returned to the cinematic landscape photography that he first explored with Roaming (2003), as well as in Bright Black World (2018), and followed it up with The End Sends Advance Warning (2024). Hido is also an avid photobook collector, and over the last 30 years has created a notable collection of over 8,500 titles.