Europe’s biggest photo fair returns – Paris Photo, 08-11 November

The biggest photo fair in Europe, Paris Photo returns from 08-11 November, with a new section on erotic images, and a walk-through focusing on female photographers.

Curated by Martha Kirszenbaum, curator of the French Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale, the Curiosa sector will bring together intimate images by 13 artists such as Nobuyoshi Araki, JoAnn Callis, and Antoine d’Agata. Kirszenbaum hope to challenge the viewer’s gaze on the fetishised body, and tackle “relations of power, domination, and gender issues”. “There are images not everyone would like to see, which I think is good,” Kirszenbaum told BJP in an article published in our November issue.

The Paths Elles X Paris Photo tour, meanwhile, sees independent curator Fannie Esouclen picking out work by women photographers in both the Paris Photo fair, and in events throughout the city – including exhibitions at Jeu de Paume and Fondation Cartier, and Photo Saint Germain fringe event. Assistant director of Paris’ celebrated Le Bal gallery from 2007-14, Esouclen has been invited by the French Ministry of Culture to lead the tours.

Taking place in the Grand Palais, Paris Photo is back for its 22nd edition this year, and will gather together nearly 200 exhibitors. In addition to the Curiosa section, the fair will be divided into four other sectors – the Main sector, in which galleries have been encouraged to bring shows of one or two photographers; the Prisms sector, which gathers galleries showcasing large-format series and installation projects; and the Book sector, which brings together specialist publishers and art book dealers, and which will be home to about 300 book-signing events.

From the series How far is a lightyear, 2018 © Simon Lehner, courtesy the artist
From the series How far is a lightyear, 2018 © Simon Lehner, courtesy the artist

Paris Photo also has a programmed element, which this year includes an exhibition by Baptiste Rabichon, the BMW Residency winner, two exhibitions drawn from photography collections (Shego/Hego/Ego from the McEvoy Family Collection, and This Must Be The Place from the JP Morgan Chase Art Collection), and the Carte Blanche Students 2018, which sees student work from four new talents display their work at the Grand Palais and at Paris’ Gare du Nord – Kata Geibl, from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest; Daniel Szalai, also from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest; Dara Minina, from Speos, Paris; and Simon Lehner, from the University of Applied Arts, Vienna.

The books shortlisted for the Paris Photo – Aperture Foundation Photobook Awards will be on display in the Grand Palais, with winners announced on 09 November in three categories – First PhotoBook, PhotoBook of the Year, and Photography Catalogue of the Year.

The Platform is “an experimental forum”, meanwhile, in which talks by leading photography specialists will take place – including a conversation between Daido Moriyama and Simon Baker; a day of discussions on the exhibition as a medium, curated by David Campany; and a day of artists’ talks and discussions on women in photography, curated by Fannie Escoulen. French photo magazine The Eyes is also curating a series of artists talks, hosting discussion on editorial projects by artists three times per day throughout Paris Photo, which includes both world-famous photographers such as Tod Papageorge and Joel Meyerowitz, and newer talents such as Katja Stuke and Oliver Sieber, and Laurence Aëgeter. Check out the link below to find more names and times.

www.parisphoto.com
https://programme.parisphoto.com/en/programme-2018/artists-by-the-eyes.htm

Women strike for equal wages, Belgium, 1966 © Janine Niépce, courtesy Polka Galerie / Roger-Viollet
Double, 2016 ©2016 Melanie Schif and Kate Werble Gallery, New York
Wildfire in Glacier National Park, St. Mary, Montana, August 2015 © David Benjamin Sherry, courtesy of the Artist and Morán Morán, Los Angeles
Untitled, New York – 1967 © Tod Papageorge, courtesy Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne
Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture, 2008 – 2018 © Toshio Shibata, courtesy Polka Galerie
Des Oiseaux, 2018 © Bernard Plossu, courtesy Xavier Barral
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2009 © Yo Yo Gonthier, courtesy Cécile Fakhoury
Bobby Sands, Belfast 1981 – 2018 © Yan Morvan, courtesy André Frere
Burning power station from Sand’s Rock Resort, 2004 © Simon Norfolk, courtesy Benrubi Gallery, NYC
Lac de Migouélou, France, 2014 © Claudius Schulze, courtesy Robert Morat Gallery
Deanna, Tub, II, 2015 © Deanna Pizzitelli. courtesy Stephen Bulger Gallery
Dimpho Tsotetsi, Parktown, 2014 © Zanele Muholi, courtesy Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg
Summer, Mississippi, 1970 © William Eggleston, courtesy Rose Gallery
Eleanor, Chicago, 1947 © The Estate of Harry Callahan, courtesy Etherton Gallery, Tucson
Jeanne D’arc 04, Ste-Marguerite, Canada, 1982 © Guillaume Simoneau, courtesy Stephen Bulger Gallery
Young Boys, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, NYC, 1981 © Jamel Shabazz, courtesy Galerie Bene Taschen
Rwanda – 1994 © James Nachtwey Archive, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, courtesy Contrasto
L’Astrophile 15, 2018 © Laurent Millet, courtesy Particulière/Foucher-Biousse
Lonely Pasha, Cairo, 2002 © Nabil Youssef, courtesy the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris / Brussels
Midwest Materials, 2018 © Julie Blackmon, courtesy Robert Mann Gallery
Madrid, Spain, 1933 © Fondation Henri Cartier Bresson/Magnum Photos, courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery
Mai 68, État des lieux [May 68, State of Play], 2018 © Claude Dityvon, courtesy André Frère
Miriam and Bestia, Kottbusser Tor, 1982 © Philip Pocock, courtesy Inda Gallery
Girl II, 2017, from the series Mukono © Bastiaan Woudt, courtesy Jackson Fine Art
NU, E61 Takaoka, 1994 © Asako Narahashi, courtesy The Third Gallery
Bonfire N° 172, 2014 © Philippe Grollier, courtesy Fisheye Gallery
Sick Hagemeyer, shop assistant, 1971 © James Barnor, courtesy Clémontine de la Féronniere
El Paso Street, El Paso, Texas, July 5, 1975 © Stephen Shore, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York
The Last Rose, 1966 by Josef Sudek © © Rudolf Kicken Galerie, Cologne
White Socks #2, 2010 © Viviane Sassen, courtesy Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg
New York, 1940, from the book Helen Levitt, 2018 © Film Documents LLC, courtesy Kehrer
From the series American Interiors, 2018 © ML Casteel, courtesy Dewi Lewis
Diane Smyth

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