It’s November again and time to do a little holiday shopping for that special someone – yourself. You like photographs, new or vintage, too, don’t you? Where better to indulge your exquisite tastes than in Paris, non? Then, Paris Photo is for you!
For the past twelve years, the best in new and vintage photography can be found in Paris in the most historically freighted shopping mall in the world, the Carrousel du Lourve in Paris’s 1er Arrondesmont from 13-16 November. Paris Photo is not as famous as its older sibling, the renowned Photography Show put on each year in New York by the Association of Independent Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), but there are important differences to keep in mind. First off, AIPAD is a members’ organization with strict rules for participation and the highest standards. Second, the galleries specialize more in vintage photography of the noblest sort with works from the dawn of photography through the classic modernism of the 1930s-50s up to the 1980s. Of course, there are newer works to be found, and it is not as black and white oriented as it used to be, but AIPAD, as the show is known, is more for the smart collector who is also in town for the spring round of auctions held in New York by Christie’s, Phillips, Sotheby’s, and the like. All of that said, Pairs Photo is a brilliant, lively event with a broader range of material including fashion and film oriented photography – this is Paris after all – and younger, more diverse galleries presenting more colour and more up-to-date works as befits its looser structure. This November it is furthermore tied into the biennial European Month of Photography, a loose celebration of 150+ shows in the galleries and museums around town in the participating cities of Paris, Vienna, Bratislava, and Berlin. For the past several years, Paris Photo has invited photography galleries and institutions from a chosen country to showcase their artists. This year presents the opportunity to see works by more than 130 Japanese artists from ten galleries as well as numerous publishing houses.
Paris Photo is more than just a chance to become exposed to Japanese photography, of course. Although the great masters of Japanese photography will be represented on the walls, including Eikoh Hosoe, Masahisa Fukase, Shomei Tomatsu, Nobuyoshi Araki, Daido Moriyama, Naoya Hatakeyama, and Hiroshi Sugimoto, and many lesser-known photographers are to be seen as well, there are artists from more than nineteen countries to be found among the 107 exhibitors. This year is especially diverse and remarkably international: 78% of the exhibitors are non-French, and 31 new participants are included. Of special interest are galleries from India, Nature Morte (New Delhi) with an exhibition of Dayanita Singh, and Australia, Stills Gallery (Sydney) with works by Polixeni Papapetrou and Petrina Hicks. Each gallery is representing its country for the first time at Paris Photo.
In addition to looking at the works on the walls and presumably picking up a present for yourself and for friends too, there are countless opportunities to meet fellow collectors to check out the competition, meet the artists, attend book signings, generally have a good time. There are also numerous informative seminars, colloquies, and other events (parties) inside the venue and across Paris. It is an amazing networking machine for all those interested in photography.
For photographers and students of photography, Paris Photo represents a phenomenal opportunity to acquire a wealth of information under one roof. Not merely is the entire history of photography at your disposal, but there are countless experts wondering around or seated at their tables who can explain what’s what and why. It is also a superb place to learn who is showing what and potentially, in the future, make a presentation of your work to a gallery or one of the 14 or so publishers at Paris Photo. It is not, absolutely not, the place to present your portfolio or to harass the gallerists. They are there to make money, obviously, and to interrupt their business is to risk eternal photographic damnation and also getting eighty-sixed from the venue. Networking is fine, studying up on the latest trends is fine, but never, never, never come between a dealer and a client. Don’t even pretend to be a client unless you actually intend to purchase something. Behind all its seeming frivolity and champagne atmosphere, Paris Photo is serious business, and the gallerists pay tons of money for shipping and booth space just to have the chance to sell some pix.
Outside the Carrousel du Louvre, there are a host of shows linked to the Month of Photography including the Lee Miller exhibition at Jeu de Paume, The School of Dusseldorf at the MAM Ville de Paris, Tokyo Stories at Artcurial, Sabine Weiss at Maison Europenne de la Photographie and Walker Evans at the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation. Don’t forget to check out the legendary photography bookstore, La Chambre Claire, just a few minutes away at 14, rue St. Sulpice. Beyond that, you’re in Paris. What more do you want?
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