Insider Guide to Paris Photo{books}
The Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards Shortlist is a highlight of the Fair and provides a special moment when the three prestigious awards are presented. This year's shortlist was created from 836 submissions for First Photobook, Photobook of the Year and Catalog of the Year. Representing work from 49 countries, the global reach of the photobook exceeded that of work exhibited at the fair.
This expansive reach is understandable given the growth of publishing houses worldwide over the past two decades. SInce 1999 there are five times more photobook publishing houses, from 92 to 485. The U.S. leads with 112 publishing houses, followed (in order) by France, the U.K., Japan, Germany and Switzerland. Now Slovakia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Belarus, Bosnia, Tunisia, Indonesia, Iceland and Greece are among countries publishing photobooks as well.
The Photobook Review, announced its 10th anniversary issue would be its final one in printed form. Leslie A. Martin, the Aperture Foundation Creative Director, a co-founder and publisher of the review, writes of the publications’ collaborative history, acknowledhing their current process of morphing into a digital format.
All 35 shortlisted books are exhibited at the fair and then tour. New York’s Printed Matter exhibits them from January 13-February 10, and Rome’s Officine Fotografiche from June 15 - July13, 2022. Of the 26 contenders for the First Photobook Award, I was delighted to see Weathering Time by Nancy Floyd, published by GOST Books of London. Floyd compiles thirty-eight years of daily self-portraits into idiosyncratic categories presented in grid format. This astonishing feat provides a mirror of womanhood and a true measure of time.
The winner of the Photobook of the Year Award, The Banda Journal, by photographer Muhammad Fadli and writer and folklore enthusiast Fatris MF shares in beautifully intertwined image and text the Indonesian history and contemporary impact of the Bando Islands.
I have already shared my delight at the recognition for the renarrative history of the photobook in the deeply researched catalog, What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843-1999 by Russett Lederman and Olga Yatsevich. It chronicles the 250 contributions of photobooks by women photographers.
I share here a few highlights of exciting titles from the offerings of the booksellers at the fair.
The far-reaching impact of the photobook and chronicling its history is a hotly contested topic. Will photobooks replace the gallery exhibition experience? Tune in with me on December 8th for a forum on contemporary photography, The Photobook Phenomenon, 1999-2021, hosted by MoMA.
