Every year, the Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards celebrates the best titles in photography and filmmaking book publishing, and this year's entries have been whittled down to just seven finalists.
The shortlisted authors will now vie for the titles of Best Photography Book and the Best Moving Image Book, with the finalist themes covering an array of topics from war and cultural psychoanalysis to radical documentarism and explorations of the everyday.
Among the four shortlisted photography books is The Fold, a “critical visual and psychological investigation” into Orientalist and colonialist photographic practices that have shaped perceptions of Islamic culture.
Author Hoda Afshar, an Iranian artist, delves into the vast collection of portraits taken by French psychiatrist and photographer Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault during visits to Morocco in the early years of the 20th century.
Red Horse by Sasha Kurmaz has also made the cut. In the book, the author documents her life in Ukraine post-2022 Russian invasion and how this is "constantly reshaped under the destructive power of war.”
Three titles have made the finals of the Best Moving Image Book, including Toward a More Perfect Rebellion: Multiracial Media Activism Made in L.A.
Through extensive interviews with "radical" Black filmmakers of the late 1960s and early 1970s, author Josslyn Jeanine Luckett sheds light on the work of socially engaged media activists who documented social upheaval in their communities.
Luckett’s competition includes Out There in the Dark by Katharine Coldiron, a “dynamic collection” of essays blending film criticism with memoir and fiction.
Also among the finalists is June Givanni: The Making of a Pan-African Cinema Archive by Onyeka Igwe. The book is a deep dive into Pan-African cinema history, partially through the memories of BAFTA Award-winning curator and film programmer June Givanni.
The winners of the 2026 Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards will be announced at the end of June 2026, with the 2027 Awards opening for entries in November 2026. All titles that made the longlist will be displayed across a two-day celebration of the photobook, July 4-5.
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