For its return to the Grand Palais, the Paris Photo fair, the global event for still images, which runs until Sunday November 10, rolled out the red carpet for photography book publishers: there are 45 of them there. floor, compared to 35 in 2023, testifying to the success of the genre. “Some visitors are there just for that, confirms the director, Florence Bourgeois. More than 400 authors come to sign their work. » This year, there are also old books: on Alain Sinibaldi's stand, the legendary book (1931) by the modernist Moï Ver (1904-1995) is offered at 30,000 euros. On the banks of the Seine, the Polycopies fair barge welcomes, for its part, 90 photo book publishers from all over the world, and invited the photographer Bernard Plossu to talk about his works, he who has published… 300 of them. “Every year, we refuse publishers”testifies one of the organizers, Sebastian Hau, who even offers day stands for the smallest houses.
Read the decryption: Article reserved for our subscribers A Paris Photo, a return in black and white to the Grand Palais
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The sector is booming. In France alone, more than 200 photo books are published each year. In 2021, the magazine PhotoBook Review estimated the number of specialized publishers in the world at 500. No fair or big photo festival now has its book sector, not to mention specialized events. “In recent years there has been a legitimization of the photography book as a tool of artistic expression, both in institutions and among collectors”, explains Clément Chéroux, director of the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, which organizes a public “foliation” every month, where a contemporary author comes to present his or her book.
“Among photographers, it has become as important as exposure, he said, and some, like Cristina de Middel, became known through their books. » For the historian, it is digital technology that has changed the situation. “It has become possible to design a book with software, print it in smaller runs, sell it online, make it known on social networks… As a result, the number of publishers has increased enormously. Not to mention self-publishing. »
Read the portrait (Rencontres d’Arles): Article reserved for our subscribers The photographic odyssey of Cristina de Middel
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At the same time, the appearance of books has changed, with publications with more original and experimental forms, with models worked by ever more inventive graphic designers. “Today, we are no longer in the beautiful book, the “coffee table book”, testifies Fabienne Pavia, director of Le Bec en l'air editions, in Marseille, which publish around ten books per year. It has become an editorial genre in its own right, and a creative object, which creates a narrative from images. »
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