"Wayward Cognitions" is a collection of photographs by Ed Templeton (born 1972), chosen from his archives spanning 20 years. For this volume, Templeton selected photographs that do not fit into his usual manner of organizing by theme or subject. In past publications he has arranged his work in straightforward groupings such as Teenage Kissers, Teenage Smokers, or photographs shot from a moving car (as in his book The Seconds Pass).

In Deformer he presented the photographs under the theme of suburbia. Wayward Cognitions represents the in-between moments that arise when shooting in the streets without theme or subject. "It's about looking, people watching, finding pleasure in the visual vignettes we glimpse each day," says Templeton. When those moments are removed from the context in which they were shot, dynamic stories can be told or imagined in book form. The photographs in Wayward Cognitions were printed by Templeton in his darkroom; he then created the layout and design himself, building the book from scratch in his home studio.