The ten shortlisted titles for 2013 Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook of the Year are:

The Black Photo Album / Look at Me: 1890–1950
Photographer: Santu Mofokeng
Publisher: Steidl / The Walther Collection, Göttingen / New York

Holy Bible
Photographers: Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin
Publisher: MACK, London / Archive of Modern Conflict, London

New York Arbor
Photographer: Mitch Epstein
Publisher: Steidl, Göttingen, Germany

Iris Garden
Photographer: William Gedney
Text: John Cage
Publisher: Little Brown Mushroom, Minneapolis

Surrendered Myself to the Chair of Life
Photographer: Jin Ohashi
Text: Nobuyoshi Araki
Publisher: AKAAKA, Tokyo

A01 [COD.19.1.1.43] — A27 [S | COD.23]
Photographer: Rosângela Rennó
Publisher: RR Edições, Rio de Janeiro

Rasen Kaigan
Photographer: Lieko Shiga
Publisher: AKAAKA, Tokyo

Birds of the West Indies
Photographer: Taryn Simon
Publisher: Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern, Germany

The PIGS
Photographer: Carlos Spottorno
Publisher: Phree and Editorial RM, Madrid

War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath
Photographers: Various
Authors: Anne Wilkes Tucker and Will Michels, with Natalie Zelt
Publisher: Museum of Fine Arts Houston / Yale University Press, New Haven

This year’s shortlist selection for the 2013 Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards was made by Vince Aletti, curator, critic, and author who writes photography reviews for the New Yorker; Julien Frydman, director of Paris Photo; Lesley A. Martin, publisher of the Aperture book program and of The PhotoBook Review; Mutsuko Ota, editorial director of IMA magazine; and Barbara Tannenbaum, curator of photography at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The jury felt that a diversity of approaches and styles were represented in this year’s entries, and they spent over ten hours to reach their final decisions. “Both content and form are inextricably partnered,” in the shortlisted photobooks, said Tannenbaum. “The content supports the form, the form supports the content. The design and all the aspects of the book are matched by the quality of the pictures. Both have to be very high.” Aletti summarized the list by noting, “The final selection offers a strong, international mix of genres, styles, and approaches to the photobook. It also represents a particular attention to the book as an object, in which selection of images, sequence, scale, typography, and materials are all carefully considered.”

The selected photobooks will be exhibited at Paris Photo at the Grand Palais and at Aperture Gallery in New York and will tour to other venues, to be determined. They will also be profiled in issue 005 of The PhotoBook Review, Aperture’s biannual publication dedicated to the consideration of the photobook.

A final jury in Paris will select the winners for both prizes, which will be revealed at Paris Photo on November 15, 2013. The winner of First PhotoBook will be awarded $10,000. Immediately preceding the announcement, the fair will host book signings of the shortlisted titles.

www.aperture.org/photobookawards/