Objects of Desire the best Photobooks of the decade Martin Parr Gerry Badger Photography

What were the best photobooks of the decade? We asked Martin Parr, who's probably done more than anyone else to promote the photobook, to explain why the Noughties are their golden age ... read for more ...

1. THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
Ryan McGinley, self-published, 2000

2. PRETEND YOU’REACTUALLY ALIVE
Leigh Ladare, ppp Editions, 2008

3. BERLIN: IN THE TIME OFTHE WALL
John Gossage, Loosestrife, 2004

4. FLAMBOYA
Viviane Sassen, Contrasto, 2008

Sassen was brought up in Mozambique and has returned to Africa to shoot these strange and graphic portraits. Sometimes posed and sometimes caught, these photographs are combined with a stunning design, in which many of the pages are cut, to produce a strange and compelling book. Her portraits are so original it is difficult to place them.

5. UTATANE
Rinko Kawauchi, Little More, 2001

6. SLIME THE BOOGIE
Dash Snow, Peres Projects, 2007

See for Saatchi Online DASH SNOW'S POLAROIDS ...

7. CHECKED BAGGAGE
Christien Meindertsma, Soeps Uitgevererij, 2004

This remarkable conceptual project documents 3624 objects Meindertsma bought at auction for EUR200. All of them had been confiscated at Schipol airport during the stringent security checks initiated after 9/11. The book was published in an edition of roughly 1000, and one of the featured objects was given away free with each copy.

8. HACKNEY WICK
Stephen Gill, Nobody, 2005

9. WHY MISTER WHY
Geert van Kesteren, Artimo, 2004

This is the most compelling new book to deal with war in the last ten years, and has a feel of a magazine, with thin paper and serrated edges that all add to its immediacy. The title comes from the phrase that van Kesteren heard shouted at him many times as moved round Iraq.

10. A SHIMMER OFPOSSIBILITY
Paul Graham, Steidl/Mack, 2007

Gerry Badger co-authored The Photobook: A History with Martin Parr. So we asked him for his take on the decade's top 10 ... read for more ...

1. MOTHER’S

Miyako Ishiuchi, Sokyu-sha, 2002

2. THE ROMANCEINDUSTRY
John Gossage, Nazraeli Press, 2002

3. PRENEZ SOIN DE VOUS
Sophie Calle, Actes Sud, 2007

4. UTATANE
Rinko Kawauchi, Little More, 2002

5. IN HISTORY
Susan Meiselas, Steidl, 2008

6. A SHIMMER OFPOSSIBILITY
Paul Graham, Steidl, 200

7. BAGHDAD CALLING
Geert van Kesteren, Episode Books, 2008

The new photojournalism - a professional photographer using cellphone and 'citizen reporter' images to tell us the truth about post-Saddam life in Baghdad.

8. TRYING TO DANCE
JH Engstrom, Journal, 2003

9. PARRJECTIV: JEANSHUNTING IN ISTANBUL
Martin Parr, Mavi Jeans, 2006

10. TEMPORARYDISCOMFORT : CHAPTERSI-IV
Jules Spinatsch, Lars Muller, 2005v