Paris Photo
The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, Paris
From November 7th until November 10th, 2024
Paris Photo, the respected international photography fair returns today, showcasing the best of what the photography market has to offer with 147 galleries, 45 publishers from 34 countries, and more than 400 artists taking part. The fair, which is in its 27th iteration, is also back at the Grand Palais, following a major restoration, much to the delight of artists and collectors.
Spearheaded by Florence Bourgeois, Director and Anna Planas, Artistic director, the fair offers a rich programme that focuses on inclusion, human bonds, and intimacy, via a host of institutional exhibitions, discussions, performances, and educational projects
The space is divided in various areas, the Principal section brings together 147 galleries, 24 of which are making their debut on the international scene, while in the heart of the nave, the Prismes projects are immersive and spotlight large formats, photographic series, video installations and sculptures. Here, find the August Sander’s, People of the 20th Century (shown for the first time in Europe), along with Anton Kusters’ installation on memory and the concentration camps; both works questioning the relationship with history and archival works.
opening image: Claudia Andujar, A Sônia, 1971 – Courtesy Vermelho.
This year, a particular focus has been placed on female works, as seen with the Elles × Paris Photo program that support’s women photographers, Florence and Anna share, “We wanted to create a fair that, in addition to celebrating the great names of photography, enables historic works and contemporary practice to dialogue with each other.”
The Elles × Paris Photo display, which was curated by Raphaëlle Stopin, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and with the support of Kering’s Women in Motion programme, showcases women in the arts and culture, she says, “Two themes guided my selection of the individual works in the exhibition as well as the four galleries and their artists : on the one hand, the linked silences of history, as outlined by the pioneer of the study of the history of women, Michelle Perrot, underlining the unequal sharing of traces and memory. I was keen to focus on post-war photographers and previous generations, who are often forgotten. On the other hand, I wanted to show the plurality of paths taken by women artists, who have used photography to challenge norms and explore their creation beyond the stereotypes of the intimate.”
– Courtesy June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation,
Courtesy Pace gallery and Zander Galerie.
– Courtesy Robert Morat.
– Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery.
Since 2018, this initiative has helped to increase the proportion of women artists in the fair from 20% to 38% and this year, for the first time, the programme is providing financial support to four galleries that are organising exhibitions of women photographers.
Other highlights for 2024 include the new Voices section that has been curated by Elena Navarro, Azu Nwag- bogu and Sonia Voss. Centenaries are marked too, as this year sees the anniversary of the Surrealism movement, and to mark the occasion, American director and screenwriter, Jim Jarmusch has created a new thematic display, and will be taking part in a discussion as part of the fair’s programme of public events.
There’s another centenary, that of Robert Frank, who is also being celebrated with a solo show, hosted by Pace. Here, Thomas Zander explores his influence on generations, and German publisher Steidl is spotlighting his literary works.
Other major figures featured include Hiroshi Sugimoto at Fraenkel and Charlotte Perriand at M77, as well as Richard Avedon and Tyler Mitchell at Gagosian. And there’s much more to see, with a digital sector, that was first introduced last year, under the direction of Nina Roehrs, displaying digital realities and the evolution of digital practices within photography as part of contemporary art. Plus, books – many books – and publishers, from CASE, Tokyo to Datz Press, Séoul, and STANLEY/BARKER, London, who explore a book’s place in the history of the photographic medium.
For further information parisphoto.com.
