The Association of Photographic Artists and the Finnish Museum of Photography have granted the Finnish Photobook Award 2025 to Juliana Irene Smith’s book Good Feelings Every Day. The winner was be chosen by by Emma Bowkett, photography director at FT Weekend Magazine, as well as a photography curator and assistant lecturer at the London College of Communication (LCC).

Emma Bowkett, who selected the winner, says:

“Taken from a sign on the wall of a karaoke bar, the title Good Feelings Every Day, perfectly prepares us for the journey ahead. This is a book that knows exactly what it is doing from the very first page.

The introduction belongs to Smith’s husband. It is touching and disarming, a quiet declaration of love that articulates what it means to be truly seen by another person’s gaze. He describes how her attention, through photography, allows him to feel valued, held. It is a framework that illuminates everything that follows, this is a book about the radical act of looking and being.”

You can read Emma Bowkett’s text in full here.

The winner receives a prize worth 2,000 €, and the other finalists 500 €.

Juliana Irene Smith is a California-born, half Iranian artist who has been living and working in Finland for nearly a decade. The 112-page book consists of Smith’s photographs, drawings, and works on textiles, as well as texts written by Arvid van der Rijt, Sanna Lehtinen, and Saara Mahbouba. It is her first published book.

The other Photobook Award 2025 finalist are Ulla-Maija Alanen: Horizons of Water and Natalia Kopkina: Liiketutkielma (Veen emo).

The Photobook Award 2025 books are available for purchase at Hippolyte Bookshop and at  shop.hippolyte.fi.

image above: Virve Laustela, the Finnish Museum of Photography
image of the book: Minna Kurjenluoma