Summer of Something Special Vol. 5
Summer of Something Special (SoSS) is an annual photo book by Something Special Studios: a visual diary of summer captured by SSS’ favorite photographers from around the globe. 2023 marks the fifth year of SSS publishing SoSS. To celebrate a half-decade of the project, we went big with Volume 5, highlighting the work of 65 photographers (instead of the usual 10 to 13). Clocking in at 428 pages, SoSS Vol. 5 is our most ambitious volume yet.
Press: Document Journal, i-D
Agency: Something Special Studios
Producer: Michelle Wong
Team: Michael Goldberg, Jillian Hoey, Joaquin Bartra, Sally Symons, Jordan Stanton, Enrique Alba, Nikki Brown, Sam Jayne, Jonathan Katav, Cris Martinez, Vivian Mak, Xena Brar, Sharlene Deng
Photography: Enrique Alba, Adam Powell, Kadar R. Small, Emily Sarah DLT
We curated featured photographers through a mix of outreach to talent we admire and community submissions — the latter of which introduced us to some new favorites (and does so year after year). Featured photographers include:
Aaron Deng
Adali Schell
Adam Jason Cohen
Alima Lee
Ania Freer
Anna Pollack
Asato Iida
Ashley Markle
Carlos Jaramillo
Caroline Xia
Chris Llerins
Devlin Claro
Edward Martin Shaughnessy V
Elisa Sue Young Park
Erinn Springer
Francis Plummer
Gili Benita
Grade Solomon
Grady Neilan
Hailey Heaton
Heather Sten
Henry O. Head
Honglin Cai
Igor Furtado
Jack Bool
Jackie Kursel
Jalan and Jibril Durimel
Jeffrey A. Tang
Jeremy Grier
Jim Longden
Jorge Badillo
June Kim
Kana Motojima
Kyle Ferino
Lara Lussheimer
Lauren Alex Kim
Leslie Soto
Lily Gavin
Lindsay Ellary
Luca Werner
Lucka Ngô
Maly Mann
Marcelo Gomes
Marco Galloway
Mateo Arciniegas Huertas
Maya Krtić
Mayan Toledano
Mecca Jihad Mshaka-Morris
Mikayla Miller
Mitch Epstein
Nate Langston Palmer
Nori Rasmussen-Martinez
Pauline Scotto Di Cesare
Rafael Rios
Raphaël Gaultier
Roberto Gramostini
Sandy Kim
Sara Messinger
Shirt
Skyler Dahan
Steven Traylor
Winter Vandenbrink
Zamar Velez
Zev Magasis
As a commemorative touch, this year's book includes a custom dust cover that unfolds to reveal a poster featuring the work of all 65 photographers. SSS donates all SoSS proceeds to Ghetto Film School — an award-winning nonprofit founded in 2000 to educate, develop, and celebrate the next generation of great storytellers.
We hosted events in NY and LA to celebrate the book's release, giving guests first access to the publication. SoSS Vol. 5 was made available for purchase on the SSS webshop and select stores, including Printed Matter (New York, NY), Iconic Magazines (New York, NY), Lichen (Queens, NY), Arcana (Culver City, CA), Dale Zine (Miami, FL), Library Fetish Palm Heights, and others.




