Paris Photo is the world's largest international art fair dedicated to photography. Founded in 1997, Paris Photo is held in November at the historic Grand Palaisexhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th arrondissement in Paris, France. The annual event for photography collectors, professionals, artists, and enthusiasts, Paris Photo offers its visitors the most qualitative and diverse selection of photo-based artworks alongside an ambitious public programme of exhibitions, prizes, artists signature sessions and talks featuring leading figures in the field. The fair reunites over 180 leading galleries and book dealers showcasing the largest selection of premium quality artworks available on the market today from vintage and modern works to contemporary creations, as well as rare and limited editions, and avant-premiere book releases. Today, the Fair presents 4 exhibitor sectors: the main gallery sector featuring solo and group shows and thematic projects, the PRISMES sector devoted to large-format, series and installation works, the video sector highlighting moving images, and the Book sector bringing together both publishers and book dealers.
History
Founded in 1997, Paris Photo presented 53 galleries for its first edition at the Carrousel du Louvre. The Fair was acquired by Reed expositions France in 2001 and relocated to the Grand Palais in 2011. In 2006, public attendance was 40,000. In 2017, over 64,500 visitors attended over the course of the 5 days of the fair. Florence Bourgeois is its current director alongside Christopher Wiesner, Artistic Director. She was preceded by Julien Frydman, Guillaume Piens, Valerie Foujerole and Rik Gadella. Reed Exhibitions also organised two sister editions of Paris Photo: Paris Photo Los Angeles from 2013 through 2015 at the Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood and Photo London at Old Billings Gate in 2007.
Initiated in November 2012 by Aperture Foundation and Paris Photo, The PhotoBook Awards celebrate the photobook's contribution to the evolving narrative of Photography with three major categories: First PhotoBook, PhotoBook of the Year, and Photography Catalogue of the Year. After a call for submissions, a shortlist is selected by a preliminary jury. The shortlisted books are exhibited at Paris Photo and profiled in The PhotoBook Review, Aperture's biannual publication dedicated to the consideration of the photobook that is released at Paris Photo and distributed with Aperture magazine. A final jury announces the three category winners at the Fair. The winner for the First PhotoBook category receives a $10,000 prize. The winners of the other two categories each receive a commemorative award. 2017 Award winners PhotoBook of the Year: Dayanita Singh, Museum Bhavan. Publisher: Steidl, Göttingen, Germany, 2017. Designed by Dayanita Singh and Gerhard Steidl First PhotoBook : Mathieu Asselin, Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation. Publisher: Verlag Kettler/Acte Sud, Dortmund, Germany, 2017. Designed by Ricardo Báez Photography Catalogue of the Year: Mattie Boom, Hans Rooseboom, New Realities: Photography in the 19th Century. Publisher: Rijiksmuseum/Nai, Amsterdam, 2017. Designed by Irma Boom Office Juror's Special Mention: Carlos Spottorno and Guillermo Abril, La Grieta . Publisher: Astiberri Ediciones, Bilbao, Spain, 2016 2016 Award Winners PhotoBook of the Year: Gregory Halpern, ZZYZX. Publisher: MACK, London, 2016. Designed by Lewis Chaplin First PhotoBook : Michael Christopher Brown, Libyan Sugar. Publisher: Twin Palms Publishers, Santa Fe, NM, 2016. Designed by Michael Christopher Brown and Ramon Pez Photography Catalogue of the Year: Karolina Puchała-Rojek and Karolina Ziębińska-Lewandowska, Wojciech Zamecznik: Photo-graphics. Publisher: Fundacja Archeologia Fotografii, Warsaw, 2015 Designed by Anna Piwowar and Magdalena Piwowar. Special Jurors’ Mention: Annett Gröschner and Arwed Messmer, Taking Stock of Power: An Other View of the Berlin Wall. Publisher: Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern, Germany, 2016. Designed by Carsten Eisfeld
Initiatives
Carte Blanche - Students In 2017, Paris Photo launched Carte Blanche - Students in partnership with Picto Foundation and Gares & Connexions, in promotion of emerging talent within European schools for photography and the visual arts. Four emerging talents were selected by an international jury, then invited to present their work to Paris Photo audiences at the Grand Palais and as part of an installation at Paris Gare du Nordtrain station. 2017 Laureates: Alexey Shlyk: Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium; George Selley: College of Communication, UK; Leon Billerbeck: Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany; William Lakin: Middlesex University, UK
