What Makes a Photobook Sustainable?  is launched to celebrate three years of research and conversations by the Sustainable Photobook Publishing (SPP) network. The book is a compendium of forty case studies along with roundtable discussions, essays, quotes and prompts, that collectively seek to demystify the publishing process - illuminating how books are made and illustrating why knowing, and asking questions, plays a fundamental part in making better, more strategic choices for both people and the planet. We hope this book will spark questions, new ideas, connections and conversations, whilst offering a starting point for piecing together the elements that can make a photobook sustainable.

The abundance of voices in the book are representative of the SPP as a now global network, and draw from distinct components and local contexts within the photobook ecosystem. Together, they show that there is no singular ‘right way’ of approaching sustainability – each individual must decide on their own approach and priorities, whilst also being mindful of the context that they are working within. In their own way, each of the contributors to this volume also offer alternatives to capitalist economic models. Whether it’s practical solutions (using local materials, minimising waste, avoiding unnecessary travel), ethical social practices, or decolonial initiatives that challenge the dominance of the Global North, these strategies give a glimpse of what a post-capitalist future might look like.

How can a book about sustainability and photobooks be used to further ideas that have emerged from its content? Given the international contributions, and the reach that we hope this book will have, we wanted to think deeply about how we get this book out into the world and how we get it to our contributors. This led us to printing the book in batches in an open edition, with distributed printing in different geographic locations - embracing the differences in production values that this may bring.* It’s small, informal and unbound to reflect the work-in-progress nature of the conversation so far.

21. Losing Ground - David O’Mara (Self-Published: 2018)
22. The Problem Horse & Other Stories - Julie Sleaford (Self-Published: 2022)
23. NECK volume 3 - 38 contributors (NECK: 2022)
24. Views - James Newton (Highchair Editions: 2023)
25. La playa de los juguetes perdidos - Alfredo Blasquez (Inframundo: 2021)
26. Traces Within - Eva Voutsaki (Self-Published: 2020)
27. Good Morning - Collective | Anonymous (Editions JOJO: 2023)
28. Eternal U - Hubert Humka (BLOW UP PRESS: 2023)
29. Freddy and Ceydie - Cynthia Johnston (Self-Published 2022)
30. We Are Making a New World - Aindreas Scholz (Self-Published: 2022)
31. In Search of InBetween Spaces - Kshitija Mruthyunjaya (Self-Published: 2023)
32. unbroken.solutions - Mark Phillips (Self-Published: 2023)
33. Extraction: In Conversation with Anna Atkins - Marie Smith (Self-Published: 2023)
34. YANGON FASHION 1979 – Fashion=Resistance - Lukas Birk (Fraglich: 2020)
35. Displace - Cristian Ordóñez (Another Earth: 2023)
36. Guftgu - ed. Anshika Varma (Offset Projects: 2020, 2022, 2024)
37. In Pieces - Sophia Bulgakova, Lia Dostlieva, Ola Lanko, Katia Motyleva, Kateryna Snizhko (Growing Pains: 2023)
38. The Banda Journal - Muhammad Fadli x Fatris MF (Jordan, jordan Édition: 2021)
39. Morphogenesis - Eugenie Shinkle & Tyrone Williams (Self-Published: 2024)
40. What makes a Photobook Sustainable? - SPP network (manual.editions: 2024)