Following on from Jon Tonk’s Miniclick talk in March, we’ve been taking a deeper look into his work over on our Tumblr, including some ‘further reading’ projects by other photographers that touch on similar themes, and this quick review of his book…

Tonks’ Empire project is fully realised in a sold out book that was released last year. Published by Dewi Lewis and with a foreword from Christopher Lord the book feels every bit as considered, classic and British as the project itself.

Text and images intertwine seamlessly throughout the book. All images are accompanied by a caption and snippet of story, or information. Giving a real, rounded sense of not only the place the photographs are speaking of, but also of Jon’s own presence and journey, making it at once ethnographical and at the same time personal. This is no mean feat and the whole work is tied up nicely by an essay by Tonks himself of the details and joys of travelling and discovering these British territories.