Here's a meticulous compilation of some historically invaluable dialogues made between photographers, writer, critics, curators, editors, and artists from 1985 to the present day. Released by Aperture, the New York based photography quarterly journal, these dialogues are collected from previous publications of the journal, based on their originality and historical merit. This includes conversations between more than 50 emerging artists and more established ones who openly spoke about the state of affairs and future destiny of photography. Some of the discussed topics include: the relationship between Instagram and storytelling, the story behind why French humanist photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson nearly had a posthumous exhibition while still alive, how did Stephen Shore ended up working with colour...and a lot of other fascinating stuff. Buy

How would the future possibly look like? Especially in a world where things seem to be heading somewhere where design is playing a very important role in shaping such future! Touching upon issues like DNA analysis, artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and space exploration, The Future Starts Here explores cutting edge scientific research and innovative pursuits, taking them from the laboratories and the studios to the attention of the general public. This includes research which has an impact on the Self, the Public, the Planet and the Afterlife. In comparison to the first issue released by V&A (this book’s publisher) dating back to 1852 and which sought to make sense of the Industrial Revolution, the current issue presents technologies and products in order to make sense of the nascent digital revolution. Buy

PIN-UP is a unique biannual publication which specialises in architectural entertainment topics. This Spring Summer issue is themed around mental health, it includes 24 pages dedicated to mental furniture, and a variety of exciting entries about designing sex video games, the use of architecture as art and the imagining of urban desires. In the interview section we meet some brilliant architects and designers like the perseverant Amanda Levete, the erudite Frida Escobedo and the self-taught William Scott. Also featured is a beautiful photo-reportage from the Spanish Island of Lanzarote which is inspired by Michel Houellebecq’s novel of the same name. Buy

Protest is a book reference to the aesthetically creative forces of resistance of the past fifty years or so. It looks into the different forms of political protest, from the more recent black lives matter to the 1950s and 60s civil rights and student movements. It shows how powerlessness and oppression generate all sorts of cynical, subversive, provocative and at times, violent modes of dissent against those with the power to set up the rules. Arranged according to the various ways of expressing protest including posters, sounds, and bodies, the book’s generous provision of imagery is complemented with analytical texts that dig into the origins and purpose of social discontent. Buy

In 1976 the Criminal Commissariat III, in the state protection department of the city police of Zurich started making a record of political street slogans, colour painting and spray paint art under a file called “Schmieren/ Kleben”. The documentation of what was then considered property damaging acts of vandalism was made by policemen who photographed and scribbled down notes about the the horrendous scenes in little index cards which described the location and type of the “violation”. Seven hundred photos and scanned copies of all the original police cards are gathered in this volume for public access, as a unique document about the political movements in Zurich in the 1970s and 1980s, and perhaps also, in honour of political freedom. Buy

Responding to Particular Needs at a Precise Moment is the visual interpretation of a research by Jonas von Lenthe into the architectural landscape of Tirana. With rudimentary photos which Lenthe personally took, archive material and interviews with local architects this book shows how architecture developed in the outskirts of Tirana to reflect people’s own ways in adapting to particular moments. Moments such as when the government"s housing support shrunk, which led to the appearance of features like integrating balconies into the internal space of houses, or making “unplanned” additions of entire floors! These represent spontaneous individual building extensions, open-ended projects, in divergence from the systematic urban planning of the socialist state. Buy

New Wave Clay exhibits the exemplary work of 55 active creatives from around the globe who are leading a revival movement of the ceramic industry. Flitting between conversations and essays, it also comprises four thematic sections: Joy, which is about the ceramics that excite the eye with their vibrant colours and vitreous textures, Simplicity, which sets out an awesome collection of ‘austere, no-frills shapes and a pared-back palettes, ceramics that share the uncomplicated wabi-sabi in form, function or both, Structure, where pottery intersects with architecture, to reveal the engineering capabilities of some ceramists, and finally, in Nostalgia we are introduced to contemporary use of old-school techniques and aesthetic tropes from the past! Buy

Jonas Mekas is a champion of the poetic, experimental cinema of the post-WWII era. His impact on the development of American, and international cinema in general is notable through and through ever since he left his natal country, Lithuania and established in 1954 the publication Film Culture, and then in 1970 the Film Makers Cooperative. His mission was to ‘take a sword and become a self-appointed minister of defense and propaganda of the New Cinema.’ Something he pretty much accomplished with his detailed documentation and critical writings about the industry. The crux of his observations are recorded in a lengthy journal from which Conversations with Film-Makers is extracted. 60 conversations are transcribed into this book along with photos and stills from Mekas films, letters and passages from scripts, all of which capture the throbbing pulse of the New Cinema’s best of days. Buy

Professor Christian Huck from the English Department of the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel studies the roots of popular culture in Germany and the changes it has undergone throughout the 20th century until the present moment. From the power of saxophones and girls to TV series, penny journals, cocktails, breakdancing, jeans and computer games, Huck revisits the transatlantic exchanges of culture from an academic perspective, in a language understandable by the general German-speaking reader. Focusing on the enthusiasm behind appreciating particular trends of culture in Germany and the social, economic and technical circumstances that led to their spread, Huck argues that popular culture is able to suspend social differences allowing for moments of a generalized sense of social equality --until countering subcultural movements take place. Buy

Massive, Expressive, Sculptural - Brutalism: Now and Then, is a conveniently thick volume, wrapped in a clear-cut hard-back cover, in accordance with what we’re going to be dealing with inside. The rise and quick fall of brutalist architecture within the span of two decades (1960s - 1970s) was thought of as the end of it. But apparently, the powerful impressions left thereafter by the raw-looking variations and imposing greatness of béton brut have triggered a new surge of interest. In 300 pages, Brutalism: Now and Then offers a comparative outlook on the differences and similarities between some of the undervalued brutalist buildings of the past and some of the most successful brutalist architecture and design of the moment. Buy

Emerged in Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution and developed during the 1920s and 1930s principally by philosopher Nikolai Fedorov, Russian Cosmism concerned itself with transforming lives by proposing a radically new worldview. One that sees obligations toward humanity extending beyond curing the sick and protecting the weak, to promoting free movement in cosmic space, resuscitating the dead, and putting an end to mortality through science and technology. This book by MIT press recollects some of the key texts on cosmism which outlined the movement’s main ideas and influenced the works of filmmakers, visual artists, poets, theater directors and novelists (including Dostoevsky and Tolstoy), some of which are translated to English for the first time. Buy

‘To the rebel girls of the world, you are the promise, you are the force. Don’t step back and everyone will move forward!’ This is the underlying message of the decidedly anti-princess book, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. The second volume juxtaposes a new mosaic of female profiles, from watchmakers and writers to chancellors and freedom fighters, treating girls -and boys indeed- with a set of formidable tales about the outstanding women who dared to brake with gender roles through unrelenting courage and hard work. Volume 2 for now only comes in its original english form, while Volume 1 is available in both, german and english. Buy