Dashwood Books

What Dashwood Books does

Dashwood Books is a New York-based specialty bookstore and independent photography publisher founded in September 2005 by David Strettell. The company operates a retail storefront at 33 Bond Street in NoHo, complemented by an exhibition space called Dashwood Projects at 63 East 4th Street in the East Village. Its core business is importing, curating, and selling contemporary photography books with limited US distribution from Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands, alongside signed editions, artist books, and collectible post-war titles priced from $18 for zines to $150 for premium limited editions.

Beyond retail, the company runs an active publishing program since 2008 that has produced 100+ titles in collaboration with internationally recognized photographers and artists, including Ryan McGinley, Jason Polan, Ari Marcopoulos, Daido Moriyama, and Takashi Homma. Co-publishing with Session Press extends its capacity for major monographs such as Daido Moriyama Shashin Jidai 1981-1988 (2023) and Portrait of J by Takashi Homma (2025). The business monetizes through direct-to-consumer book sales across physical and e-commerce channels, with revenue also generated from ancillary services to museums, educational institutions, fashion houses, and reference libraries.

The go-to-market is predominantly direct-to-consumer with a niche professional and institutional clientele in fashion, advertising, and film. Marketing relies on editorial press coverage in major art publications, in-store events with marquee artists, and an email newsletter. The company has no proprietary technology, no disclosed AI/ML capability, and no external funding; it operates as a founder-controlled independent business with 51–100 employees and a small but expanding footprint of partnerships including Gucci Wooster, The Mercer Hotel, and Speciwomen.

Name

Dashwood Books

Legal name

Dashwood Books

Website

https://dashwoodbooks.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Dashwood Books is a New York-based independent specialty bookstore and publisher of contemporary photography books, serving art collectors, art directors, fashion houses, and museums through its NoHo storefront, East Village exhibition space, and online store.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

NAICS

Book Retailers and News Dealers (4592), Book Publishers (51313)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Genre Bookstores (e.g., Sci‑Fi, Mystery, Poetry) (CRALAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Genre & Category Publishing (Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Sci‑Fi/Fantasy, etc.) (MPAJAAAB), Humor, Gift & Specialty Format Books (Journals, Coloring, etc.) (MPAJAAAN)

Keywords

• Photography bookstore
• Contemporary photography
• Artist books
• Photography publishing
• Photography monographs

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Retail Book Sales: Sale of new and collectible photography books through physical storefront at 33 Bond Street, NYC, and online e-commerce platform. Includes limited edition signed copies, imported international titles, and artists' self-published works. Books priced from $18 for zines to $150 for premium editions.
2. Publishing Program: Publishing program producing monographs on photography and drawing, anthologies on youth culture, and artist's zines and posters since 2008. Co-publishing with Session Press on major titles like Daido Moriyama Shashin Jidai and Takashi Homma Portrait of J.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Dashwood Books is a New York-based specialty bookstore and publisher focused on contemporary photography. It sells imported photography books with limited US distribution (from Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands), signed editions, and collectible post-war titles through a physical storefront in NoHo and an e-commerce website. The company also produces its own monographs, artist books, and zines through an in-house publishing program launched in 2008.

Product overview

Dashwood Books is a New York-based photography book publisher and specialty bookstore operating since September 2005. The company offers two main product lines: (1) a publishing program that collaborates with internationally recognized artists to produce monographs on photography and drawing, anthologies on youth culture, and artist's zines and posters; and (2) a retail operation that imports and sells contemporary photography books with limited US distribution, including titles from Japan, Germany, and The Netherlands, along with signed books and collectible post-war titles. The company also maintains Dashwood Projects, an exhibition space for photography shows and cultural events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dashwood Zines: A category of zines published or sold by Dashwood Books, including titles like Doorsteps by Inbar Levi and Bunny the Dom by Dylan Dehane.
• Dashwood Projects

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Session PresscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Co-publishing partnership with Miwa Susuda's Session Press for major photography monographs. Joint publications include Daido Moriyama Shashin Jidai 1981-1988 (2023), Takashi Homma Portrait of J (2025), and various Japanese photography titles. Session Press editor Miwa Susuda co-edits Dashwood publications.
• SpeciwomenflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Non-profit arts organization supporting women and LGBTQIA+ artists. Co-presenting Maï Lucas 'New York Days' exhibition at Dashwood Projects (May 2026). Also co-publishing Ming Smith 'In the Presence of Spirit' with Dashwood Books in 2026.
• The Mercer HotelminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2023Library curation partnership with The Mercer Hotel in SoHo, New York. Dashwood Books curated the hotel's first-ever library featuring art books for guests.
• GucciflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2019Gucci Wooster bookstore in New York's SoHo curated entirely by Dashwood Books, featuring their selected photography book collection. Featured in The Cut, Vogue, and other publications as partnership highlight.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Idea Books: Amsterdam-based distributor and retailer specializing in art and photography books from independent publishers. Comparable on the import-and-distribute side of Dashwood's European supply chain (Netherlands being a key source market).
• MACK Books: London-based independent publisher of photography books and occasional retailer. Comparable on the photography-monograph publishing side, with overlapping artist roster (e.g., collaborative tendencies with international photography talent).

Broad incumbents

• Strand Bookstore: Iconic NYC independent bookstore with a large rare-books annex. Comparable as a long-running, NYC-based independent bookseller with strong brand recognition, but far broader in category scope than Dashwood's photography specialization.
• McNally Jackson Books: NYC independent bookstore and publisher (McNally Editions) with multiple locations. Comparable as an NYC indie that combines retail with a publishing imprint and curated programming, though its category scope is much broader than Dashwood's.

Direct peers

• Hennessey + Ingalls: LA-based art and architecture bookstore specializing in visually oriented titles. Comparable as a specialty art-photography retailer with strong collector and professional-designer clientele, though geographically separated from Dashwood's NYC base.
• 192 Books: Chelsea, NYC bookstore specializing in art, photography, and design titles with strong publishing and event programming. Highly comparable to Dashwood on curatorial focus, photography specialization, and event-driven author engagement.
• Printed Matter, Inc. NYC-based nonprofit bookstore and publisher specializing in artists' books, with two physical locations. Most direct comparable to Dashwood on the convergence of retail, publishing, and artists'-book curation in the NYC art-book market.
• Aperture Foundation: Photography-focused nonprofit publisher and bookseller based in NYC. Closely comparable as a publishing-and-retail organization dedicated to contemporary photography, with overlapping artist network and similar audience of collectors and art directors.

Others

• Dashwood Books Publishing Imprint (internal): Listed as an internal reference rather than external peer; included only to flag that Dashwood's own publishing imprint functions analogously to small photobook publishers like MACK, Nazraeli, or Aperture, with shared artist network and competing list for limited-edition buyers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dashwood Books