Every month, Phototrend presents a curated selection of photography books that have made a significant impact. For August 2025, five exceptional new publications have been selected, featuring works by Raymond Depardon, Carrie Mae Weems, Boby's Cafoucho, Brazilian modernist photography, and nocturnal landscape photography techniques.

Raymond Depardon's "Desert" stands as a monumental collection showcasing sixty years of black and white photography captured across desert landscapes from North Africa to the Middle East. The book encompasses commissioned photography work, images seized during film shoots, political reports, and intimate explorations of eleven regions where Depardon encountered diverse peoples. Rather than serving as merely a subject, the desert reveals itself through Depardon's lens - its immensity merging with the sky, occasionally pierced by palm trees.

Faces confronting the camera and shadowy silhouettes nestled in sand dunes compose this timeless panorama, perhaps more confidential than other works by this master of imagery. Whether completing a collection dedicated to this legend of French photojournalism or escaping beyond our horizon line, this summer publication by the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art stands as an edifice of beauty and poetry that is anything but a mirage. Published by Fondation Cartier, the 344-page hardcover book measures 22.5 x 31 cm and retails for €59.

"The Heart of the Matter" by Carrie Mae Weems, published by Aperture, highlights a major figure in American photography who remains underexposed in France. The book serves as an echo to the eponymous retrospective presented in Turin through September 7th. This comprehensive volume examines over forty years of creative work that combines political engagement, collective memory, and intimate perspective. From her early documentary series "Family Pictures and Stories" to the iconic "Kitchen Table Series," and recent works like "Preach," Weems explores African American identity, gender, social class, and representation in art history.

Utilizing photography, video, text, and installation, each medium intersects the meeting point of intimate and political spheres to better denounce discrimination. Accompanied by essays, "The Heart of the Matter" traces the portrait of an artist who, since the late 1970s, has continuously given voice and face to those whom History had relegated to the background. This essential book measures the influence and necessity of her work, featuring 170 photographs across 264 pages in a 21.6 x 25.4 cm format, priced at €75.

Simply call him Boby. While abandoning his provocative qualifier, the one known as "Odious Boby" retains his sharp perspective. "Cafoucho" marks the first title from this French photographer and photojournalist, social media star, and official photographer of the Paris Games. Like a cafoucho - a closet overflowing with findings and bric-a-brac, nicknamed by his mother for his teenage bedroom - the book contains images gleaned over fifteen years through various occasions: concerts, fashion shows, demonstrations, and portraits.

The common thread remains the irreverence of their author, as confirmed by the back cover portrait of his grandmother taken with film, middle finger raised. Featuring a sunny yellow cover revealing a preface by journalist Benoit Baume, texts by iconographer Tess Raimbeau, Liliboy (singer of electropop group Deluxe), and Oli from the duo Big Flo & Oli. This particular cafoucho willingly remains open to better let this array of skillfully contextualized images overflow. It creates a true kaleidoscope of today's world in which one enjoys getting lost. Published by Fisheye, the 256-page hardcover measures 19.5 x 28 cm and costs €43.

The Photo Poche collection enriches itself with a new volume on Brazilian Modernist Photography. Uniquely, this edition focuses on a photographic movement rather than a single author. Born at the turn of the two halves of the 20th century, modernist photography emerged as a response to forced industrialization and technical progress in Western countries. Images presented in this work illustrate a new relationship with time and space. In opposition to pictorialist movements, order, rationality, and sharpness were sought and emphasized.

Brazil's particular context, experiencing strong prosperity between the 1940s and 1960s, gave rise to an artistic movement of great richness. Written by Helouise Costa and Marcella Legrand Marer, this new Photo Poche is structured in three major sequences: photo clubs, documentary photography, and photojournalism. In total, 120 works by 23 artists with sometimes very different photographic practices and styles allow better understanding of this movement, which had never been the subject of any publication in France until now. Published by Actes Sud, the 216-page paperback measures 12.5 x 19 cm and retails for €19.50.

"The Secrets of Nocturnal Landscape Photography" by Joël Klinger, published by Eyrolles, delivers a practical guide for taming the night and revealing all its visual magic. The work addresses both curious amateurs and passionate enthusiasts wanting to perfect their technique. The author first covers fundamentals: trip preparation, choosing appropriate equipment, light management, and understanding the nocturnal sky. Klinger explains, for example, how to compose with moon phases, the Milky Way, or atmospheric phenomena, emphasizing the importance of planning and observation.

The technical section details essential settings including aperture, exposure time, ISO sensitivity, and focus, while proposing tips to avoid classic pitfalls like digital noise or blur. The approach remains accessible with numerous diagrams and examples. Beyond practical aspects, the book highlights an artistic dimension: how to capture the emotion of a starry sky, tell a story through light and shadow, and develop personal style. This genuine invitation to explore the night distinguishes itself through its balance between pedagogy, concrete advice, and creative inspiration. The 134-page paperback measures 17 x 22.9 cm and costs €23.