Sean O’Toole launches new photobook publication at Art Club Cape Town

The South African photobook is the focus of the next Art Club Cape Town event at Strauss & Co, where writer, curator and critic Sean O’Toole will launch his new publication, Photo book! Photo-book! Photobook!.

The book is the culmination of a long-term research project that O’Toole began in 2020, examining the role of the photobook in South Africa’s photographic history. Supported by A4 Arts Foundation, the project has included exhibitions in Cape Town and Kyoto before taking shape as this publication.

During the evening, O’Toole will discuss what defines a photobook and why the format deserves greater attention within the history of photography. His presentation draws on years of research into a medium that has often sat outside mainstream discussions of South African art publishing, despite its significance for photographers, artists and publishers.

The event also includes a guided walkthrough of Friends, Allies and the Odd Stranger, O’Toole’s selection for Strauss & Co’s July ART programme. The display brings together photobooks featured in the publication alongside works by artists he has written about over the course of his career, as well as artists who have themselves contributed to art criticism.

The event offers an opportunity to engage with an important but often overlooked aspect of South African visual culture.