Ten years ago Michael Itkoff and Taj Forer launched Daylight, an innovative publisher of art photography that explores the documentary mode alongside the more conceptual concerns of fine art.

Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, Daylight just announced its list of spring books that cover a compelling array of topics and issues: the struggles of LGBTQ men and women in the US military; the transgender community in Cuba which enjoys greater acceptance under Raúl Castro's presidency; a glimpse into daily life in Kabul, Afghanistan where going to the cinema, once banned by the Taliban, is a welcome escape from the harsh reality of this violence-plagued city; the diversity of American culture found at the ballpark of a minor league baseball team and through objects in our homes and places of work; the return to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle where you "give back more than you take;" and an American town with fantastical landscapes that morphed from aviation training facility to gaming community. Here is a selection of forthcoming titles, just in from Daylight:

Above: Nomi and her boyfriend Miguel, from Transcuba. © Mariette Pathy Allen.

Mariette Pathy Allen: Transcuba. For more than 30 years, New York based photographer and painter Mariette Pathy Allen has been documenting transgender culture worldwide; in 2004 she won the Lambda Literary Award for her monograph The Gender Frontier. In her new publication, TransCuba, Allen focuses on the transgender community of Cuba, especially its growing visibility and acceptance in a country whose government is transitioning into a more relaxed model of communism under Raúl Castro's presidency. In addition to color photographs and interviews by Allen, the book also includes a contribution from Raúl Castro's daughter, Mariela Castro, who is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education in Havana. To visit the artist's website, go here. 

Jonathan Saruk: The Forbidden Reel, with texts by Javed Rezayee and Annick Shen. In a nondescript concrete building along a busy street in the old city of Kabul, young men file into a dark, smoke-filled theater where the cinema offers an alternative narrative to life in this violence-plagued city. In his new book, Jonathan Saruk documents the cinemas of Kabul-entertainment venues that had been banned under the Taliban but which have sputtered back to life since the US invasion 12 years ago. To visit the artist's website go here.

Martin Hyers and Will Mebane: Empire Between 2004 and 2007, photographers Martin Hyers and Will Mebane made a series of road trips through the American South, West and East to create a photographic archive of objects. Using two hand-held 4 x 5 view cameras, Hyers and Mebane met strangers and accompanied them back to their homes, offices and factories to photograph. Working in a deliberately forensic fashion, they photographed the objects they encountered - stoves, family photographs, computers, trophies and the like. Many of the objects included in their project are discomfiting because of their impending obsolescence: an overhead projector rests on a table, a typewriter sits on a desk, a set of encyclopedias waits well-organized on a yellow bookshelf. To visit the artists' website, go here. 

Gays in the Military, Interviews and Photographs by Vincent Cianni. Through compelling photographs and interviews, documentary photographer and educator Vincent Cianni has created an important historical record of the struggles of the LGBTQ men and women in the US military. As the Human Rights Commission attests, the US military has a long history of human rights abuses against homosexuals, with harassment and discrimination frequently resulting in lost careers. 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' (and historically the ban against homosexuals) failed to protect the human rights of a significant portion of gay and lesbian military, and at times service members were penalized and prohibited from receiving an honorable discharge to retain benefits accorded them for serving, oftentimes under extreme conditions of a combat zone. Gays in the Military tells their stories. To visit the artist's website, go here.

For more information about Daylight books, e-books, awards and events, go to their website.

Correcton: The photo caption above has been corrected.