2023 Village Awardee: Dashwood Books, 33 Bond Street
Village Preservation is very proud to honor Dashwood Books as a Village Awardee in 2023. Join us in recognizing Dashwood and these other worthy awardees at Village Preservation’s Annual Meeting and Village Awards on Tuesday, June 13. Registration is free and open to all!
Established in September, 2005, Dashwood Books is New York’s only independent bookstore devoted entirely to photography. Today, it stocks more than 10,000 titles, including hard-to-find works from Japan, Europe, and South America as well the United States. Founder and owner David Strettell wanted to “create a community for photography book lovers, photographers, and people in the media could gather around interesting books,” and he’s certainly succeeded in the store’s intimate half-basement at 33 Bond Street.
The store’s become a mecca for photography lovers who come to enjoy the well-stocked shelves and excellent service by staff. Dashwood features both contemporary volumes and vintage books from around the world, all curated to create a unique resource and experience in NoHo and the city.
“Photography is a medium where you need to experience the books in person,” whether those tomes are purchased in the physical store or online, noted Strettell, the former cultural director of Magnum Photos. “There’s no such thing as a good photography book on a Kindle.”
Selling books is not the only activity at the store. Since opening the store 18 years ago, Strettell has had the opportunity to meet “all my heroes in photography”— Richard Prince, William Eggleston, Susan Meiselas, and Ari Marcopoulous, to name a few. Book signings are another important aspect of Dashwood Books, where visitors often spill out onto the sidewalk from the store’s small space.
In addition, since 2008 Dashwood Books has undertaken an extensive publishing program, working together with internationally recognized artists and designers to produce monographs on photography and drawing, anthologies on youth culture, and artist’s zines and posters. All of this makes the shop a unique gathering spot for photographers, book collectors, designers, and other photography enthusiasts, a well-deserved level of achievement for the small store.
Strettell feels “fantastic” about winning a Village Award for those accomplishments, adding that “it’s nice to be recognized as a good retailer and as part of the community.”