Rites of Passage, Scott Mead's new book to launch July 2026

Taken over a five-year period between 1971 and 1976, Scott Mead's black-and-white photographs of New England, USA, explore scenes of discovery, ritual, rural beauty and urban metropolis.

In Rites of Passage, photographer Scott Mead revisits his formative years in New England, USA. Taken over a five-year period between 1971 and 1976, the black-and-white photographs explore scenes of discovery, ritual, rural beauty and urban metropolis.

Situated somewhere between an American road trip and a personal visual diary, Mead's images capture a world as it was then, shaped by political upheaval, profound civil change and the Cold War. The tensions embedded in these photographs resonate today amid a fraught social landscape and increasing polarisation. Recent global events prompted Mead to reflect deeply as he explored his photographic archive.

This clothbound hardback book features 97 large-format prints of Mead's poignant work. Shot on black-and-white 35mm and large format film, the images portray life in a time of transition, drawing the viewer's eyes into their atmospheric compositions and rich textures. Rites of Passage presents Mead's delicate, often amusing and sometimes uneasy portraits alongside cityscapes, landscapes and snapshots of the lives of friends and strangers.

Published by Hurtwod Press Limited and Bramley Studio, 2026
Photographs and text by Scott Mead and Brad Leithauser
Concept and edit by Tim Burrough and Anne Erhard at Bramley Studio
Hardcover, cloth-bound with image and foiling
176 pages,
24.5 x 28.3 cm (w x h), 97 tri-tone illustrations
ISBN: 978-0-903696-72-2

'Rites of Passage' is now available to order in the UK on our Bookshop and in the US on Amazon