Gerry Johansson - Amerika - 1998

"Amerika" (1998) is the seminal, first country-portrait monograph by renowned Swedish photographer Gerry Johansson. Published by Byggförlaget, the book is a highly revered classic within the photobook community, reflecting an outsider's subtle, quiet perspective on American cultural geography. It initiated Johansson’s signature series of geographically focused, alphabetically sequenced publications.

Rather than focusing on major monuments, Johansson focuses on the mundane, architectural vernacular, and the intersection between nature and human construction. Viewing the nation through distinct "Swedish eyes," his work offers an objective yet deeply atmospheric portrait of a complex country.

True to Johansson's iconic structural philosophy, the book documents 112 American cities sequenced in strict alphabetical order—starting from Altheim, Kansas and concluding at Zell, South Dakota.

The book features 110 masterfully composed duotone, square-format photographs. His style is distinctively minimalist, quiet, and ascetic, earning frequent comparisons to American Masters like Robert Adams and Lee Friedlander, but imbued with a European sensibility. The series bypasses regional limits, capturing landscapes from the Midwest, the South, the North, and both the East and West coasts.

This 1998 first edition is limited to 1,200 copies.

Designed by the prominent Swedish designer Henrik Nygren, the physical book mimics the quiet precision of the photos themselves.

Due to its rarity and high regard, a special rebound cloth-bound edition limited to just 100 signed copies was released in 2009. His ongoing American explorations later evolved into companion books like America Revised (2018) and American Winter (2018).


Copy in near fine condition.