After the latest successful edition of FIAC closed its gates back in October, the huge glass exhibition pavilion of the Grand Palais returned to the centre of contemporary art for a weekend dedicated to photography with Paris Photo. As in the previous years, the well-regarded fair (now in its 18th edition) brought new trends and historical landmarks of photography world to the French capital. 143 galleries and 26 international publishers coming from 35 countries, took part in a rich program of exhibitions spanning different approaches, schools of thought and media: from reportage to still life, from fashion to manipulated photography, from fictional and dreamlike narratives to reality.
Among the big artists and young talents we counted the names of famous Düsseldorf school members Thomas Struth and Candida Höfer, as well as William Eggleston, Diane Arbus, Henri Cartier-Bresson, David LaChapelle, Bettina Rheims, Ed Templeton with his striking street photo-installation, Vic Muniz, James Casabere, Cristina De Mittel, Marwane Pallas, Massimo Vitali or Ren Hang, just to mention a few. International galleries and publishers of the like of David Zwirner, Gagosian, Galerie Dominique Fiat, Pace/MacGill, RoseGallery, Carlier|Gebauer, Thaddaeus Ropac, Zilberman, Hatje Cantz, La Librairie du Jeu de Paume returned to Paris Photo or were here to present themselves for the first time in an ever evolving and growing international showcase. Italian players were present, too, even if in little less imposing numbers, since the photography market is still feeble in the country: Guido Costa displayed a selection of small black and white vintage prints of Nan Goldin, a brand new series by Paul Thorel, Carlo Valsecchi’s “Factory Series” and Boris Mikhalov’s small dyptich from his iconic “Brown Series”; Photo & contemporary focused on international research and the promotion of Italian artists abroad, and Paci contemporary showed the irony and audacity of Leslie Krims in a bold solo show.
Paris Photo 2014 completed its full schedule with an exhibition arranged by the LINK NAME featuring a selection of recent acquisitions, and with painted photography from India and Southern Asia of the Alkazi Collection of Photography. For those who are interested in artists’ books, “Hidden Islam” By Nicolo Degiorgis won in the Aperture Foundation Photobook Awards, while “Imaginary Club” by Oliver Sieber is the winner of the Photobook Of The Year and Christopher Williams with “The Production Line of Happiness” won in the new category titled Photography Catalogue of the Year.
See you next year, Paris Photo!
Images from top to bottom: Ed Templeton, photo-installation of 28 photographs, curated by Emeric Glayse for Galerie Dominique Fiat, Paris / Courtesy Roberts&Tilton, Los Angeles / Copyright Ed Templeton; View of the Grand Palais, courtesy of Jérémie Bouillon for Paris Photo; Recent publications of La Librairie du Jeu De Paume; View of the Grand Palais, courtesy of Marc Domage for Paris Photo.
Monica Lombardi
