Lost II is a collection of 20 different photo books shot by photographers in their respective cities

Sat in a meeting in late 2017, feeling lost and unsure, photographer Kris Graves decided it was time for a change. Formulating the idea of a photo book collection that consisted of work made by artists in different cities, he sent the initial emails out that very evening. “Everyone said yes and we started work immediately,” reminisces Kris.

Skip forward past a successful first release of Lost – the photo book collection in question – and he, along with his cousin Gravelle, who run their publishing company Kris Graves Projects, are gearing up for round two. The second instalment is bigger and much more ambitious than its predecessor – twice as many photographers, twice as many cities and nearly twice as many pages in each of the 20 books that come in Lost II.

“The new books are slightly larger, are printed offset instead of digital and will be of a much higher quality,” Kris explains. “We have also used the opposite colours on our slipcase, and placed the artists’ names on the slipcase spine.” The result is a huge, beautifully produced boxset of photo books that boast locations from Hong Kong to Toronto and beyond, as well as a diverse range of photographers behind a diverse range of series that depict their hometowns.

Speaking on his inspiration, Kris says: “I am often filled with envy and aim to produce books for projects I wish I had photographed myself.” Taking this work green-eyed into his studio, he then begins to design each series entirely on his own: “I keep it simple – title page, text pages, some fun image sequencing and in constant collaboration with the artists so they like the end result.”

Looking forward, Kris says the future will continue to be defined by these collaborations. “We will continue to work with artists producing meaningful projects,” he explains. “With regards to Lost, we haven’t released the second set yet, so I can’t really say much about the third edition quite yet – but if everyone buys a book or two, we can afford to continue the project.”