Fotobookfestival Kassel returns, with the Dummy Award and much more
Established back in 2008, the Fotobookfestival Kassel was the first festival devoted to the photobook and, over the last 10 years, has made a name as one of the most interesting on the calendar. Its 10th anniversary edition looks set to bear out this reputation from 31 May-03 June, with talks by celebrated photographers and photobook-makers such as Anders Petersen, Susan Meiselas, Carlos Spottorno, Mathieu Asselin, Gerhard Steidl, JH Engström, and many more, and exhibitions by Dana Lixenberg, Daniel Gustav Cramer, and the designer Sybren Kuiper (SYB).
The exhibitions programme also includes two shows devoted to Kassel’s well-regarded prizes – the Dummy Award and the Photobook Award. In total 30 books have been selected for the Photobook Award by a prestigious panel including, Laia Abril On Abortion; Mathieu Asselin Monsanto – A Photographic Investigation; Ludovic Balland American Readers at Home; Tim Carpenter Local Objects; Sanne de Wilde The Island of the Colorblind; Carolyn Drake Internat; Li Feng White Night; Stephen Gill Night Procession; Anne Golaz Corbeau; David Goldblatt Structures of Dominion and Democracy; Daniela Keiser Kairo; Stephan Keppel Flat Finish; Paul Kranzler and Andrew Phelps The Drake Equation; Sandrine Lopez Moshé; Alix Marie Bleu; Raymond Meeks, Adrianna Ault and Tim Carpenter dumbsaint 01: township & bremen grain; Susan Meiselas Mediations; Luis Molina-Pantin Testimonies of Corruption: A Visual Contribution to Venezuela’s Fraudulent Banking History; Nine Photographers Witness, Kashmir 1986-2016; Max Pinckers Margins of Excess; Roman Pyatkovka You wait; Laurence Rasti There Are No Homosexuals in Iran; Joachim Schmid Paris, November 2015; Titus Simoens For Brigitte; Andrea Stultiens Ebifananyi; Henk Wildschut Ville de Calais; Carmen Winant My Birth; and Christopher Wool Westtexaspsychosculpture.
Some 53 book prototypes have been selected for the Dummy Award, from which three winners will be selected for first, second and third place prizes (all are shown in the images accompanying this article). The first-prize winner will see their book produced and published by Kettler, Germany, the company behind Mathieu Asselin’s hit book Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation. The festival also includes a photobook workshop run by Akina Press’ Valentina Abenavoli, and a reconstruction of the Café Lehmitz shot by Anders Petersen by the PhotoBoookMuseum.
The Fotobookfestival Kassel runs from 31 May-03 June in Kassel, Germany. A one-day pass costs €10 and a three-day pass €18, the evening events are free 2018.fotobookfestival.org
Diane Smyth is the editor of BJP, returning for a second stint on staff in 2023 - after 15 years on the team until 2019. As a freelancer, she has written for The Guardian, FT Weekend Magazine, Creative Review, Aperture, FOAM, Aesthetica and Apollo. She has also curated exhibitions for institutions such as The Photographers Gallery and Lianzhou Foto Festival. You can follow her on instagram @dismy