A treasure trove of ephemera and cult classics, archival bookstore Record 28 has been sourcing rare and out-of-print books across arts and counter-culture since 2018. Founded by Nick Mennell, the transient pop-up shops and website are jam-packed with artefacts spanning decades upon decades of pop culture, featuring work from Tommy Guerrero, Diane Arbus postcards, William Eggleston’s pictures of the American South and their very own Record 28 fan scarves.

For the last-minute shopping rush or as inspiration for what to treat yourself to post-Christmas, we asked Nick to create a Record 28 gift guide, featuring everything from Boris Mikhailov, 70s beach babes and pop-girl culture goodness. 

A Retrospective by Boris Mikhailov, 2003
“One of the best and most comprehensive Mikhailov books, full of imagery from projects spanning years. This now well-out-of-print book is a classic piece of fantastic early 2000s publishing from Scalo – groundbreaking if not occasionally harrowing work.”

In Memory of Davide by Davide Sorrenti, 1997
“The incredibly scarce In Memory of Davide Sorrenti photo zine was designed by Ezra Petronio and Suzanne Koller in collaboration with the closest friends of the Sorrenti family. It’s full of fantastic Davide Sorrenti imagery as well as heartfelt messages from the likes of Mario and Jamie King. This self-published celebratory obituary is such an incredible piece of history of an artist who left us way too early.”

Jones Beach by Joseph Szabo, 2010
“Beginning in the early 1970s, against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean, Joseph Szabo started capturing the melting pot of humanity on Jones Beach, one of America’s busiest beaches with more than six million visitors a year. Among the sea of bodies on Jones Beach, Szabo’s camera isolates both rare moments of introspection and unashamed exuberance. Images of tanned muscle men, a catwalk display of beach wear, heavily oiled skin, masses of sprayed hair, and shy adolescents reluctantly in swimwear all reveal the dynamics of the beach. These photographs show the city and all its different tribes of people displaced to the coast for the day. Divisions and class and race boundaries are temporarily forgotten along with inhibitions about body size and shape. With no agenda, the near-perfect and the flawed are all documented with the same respect and tenderness in these vital photographs taken over the last 35 years.”

Girl Culture by Lauren Greenfield, 2002
“Greenfield’s photographs capture how girls are affected by American popular culture. With an eye for both the common and the eccentric, she visits girls of all ages, discussing issues ranging from eating disorders and self-mutilation to spring break and prom with more than 100 mesmerizing photographs.”

Beach Portraits by Rineke Dijkstra, 2002
“An outstanding collection of work by this now very celebrated artist. Taken on the shores of Ukraine, Croatia, Britain and more, the portraiture documents subjects clad in little more than bathing suits on a beach against a rolling sea backdrop. The resulting photographs create a collective portrait of the existential insecurity and awkward beauty of youth captured and instantly recognisably by Dijkstra. She is undoubtedly one of the most important portrait photographers of our time.”