Issue #7891: Cool + Noteworthy

This month’s issue abandons the usual structure of the magazine, presenting a selection of some of the best photography from the last 12 months. From new projects and unusual collaborations to gallery openings and theatre productions, our eighth annual Cool + Noteworthy issue highlights everything we loved about the industry this year, but which didn’t make it into our last 11 editions — now available in the BJP shop.

Two new photography museums opened this year: Lumen Museum of Mountain Photography in the spectacular Italian Dolomites, and the Institut pour la photographie in Lille, France. We explore these new institutions, while also recognising fledgling initiatives, such as LagosPhoto in Lagos, Nigeria, which has gone from strength to strength since it began a decade ago. 

As always, there is an emphasis on collaboration. Steve McQueen’s Year 3 project celebrates diversity in London primary schools, Ronan Mckenzie’s partnership with Universal Standard promotes body positivity, and Aïda Muluneh  highlights the impact that a lack of clean water has on women’s lives for WaterAid. Together, these projects make for three outstanding collaborations from the past year.

Among the notable photobooks of 2019 are Paul Cupido’s Continuum, Luca Missoni’s Moon Atlas, and Daniel C. Blight’s The Image of Whiteness: Contemporary Photography and Racialization. Taschen’s two-volume book, Dior/Lindbergh, also caught our eye, with its alluring tribute to the late icon of fashion photography, Peter Lindbergh.

In theatre and film, Russian art collective AES+F and director Fabio Cherstich create a 21st-century reimagining of Franco Alfano and Giacomo Puccini’s opera, Turnadot, and a moving documentary titled Shooting the Mafia profiles the fearless Sicilian photojournalist, Letizia Battaglia.

For exhibitions, we draw on important issues, past and present, from colonial history and the Holocaust to first-hand experiences of incarceration and, of course, Brexit. In the UK, Brexithas been the defining political issue of the year; for former House of Commons photographer Mark Duffy, it became an obsession that took over his work, life, and home. 

Purchase the latest issue from the BJP shop, or join 1854 Full Access, where members receive each issue with a unique collectable cover every month, or 1854 Digital Access that offers the magazine ad-free on tablet and iPad.

Marigold Warner

Deputy Editor

Marigold Warner worked as an editor at BJP between 2018 and 2023. She studied English Literature and History of Art at the University of Leeds, followed by an MA in Magazine Journalism from City, University of London. Her work has been published by titles including the Telegraph Magazine, Huck, Elephant, Gal-dem, The Face, Disegno, and the Architects Journal.