Awol Erizku, Brukawit (2013). 
Photo: Ben Brown Fine Arts, Paris Photo.

The prestigious photography fair Paris Photo opens its 19th edition this week at the majestic Grand Palais, running from November 12 – 15. The fair has been going from strength to strength, making an impact on the status of photography in the art world, and the art market, since its inception—and especially since launching its successful spinoff Paris Photo Los Angeles in 2013.

This year’s edition will be the first Parisian outing under the directorship of financial and marketing guru, and fair veteran, Florence Bourgeois, and with Christoph Wiesner as artistic director, who were both tapped earlier this year after Julien Frydman quit Paris Photo.

Slater Bradley The Last Goodbye (2013).
Photo: Galeria Filomena Soares.

Among the changes introduced by the new leadership is a slightly higher number of exhibitors: 147 galleries, including 26 new-comers, and some 27 art book publishers and dealers working in the field of photography will be presenting at the fair. A new section has been created to highlight the variety of the medium: entitled PRISMS, this section will focus on large format and serial works in its first iteration, and will occupy the palace’s Salon d’Honneur.

The Salon d’Honneur will also host this edition’s guest collector, Enea Righi, who will present major works from one of Italy’s most important private collections, featuring prominent artists such as Cy Twombly, Nan Goldin, and Hans-Peter Feldmann, among others.

With exhibitors hailing from 34 countries, it’s the variety of approaches to the practice of photography—from documentary to abstract and conceptual—and the opportunity to view historical presentations alongside contemporary discoveries that makes Paris Photo the premier art event for the versatile medium.

Brassaï, Graffiti de la Série VIII, La Magie
Photo: Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris Photo

Highlights from the solo presentations will include a booth by Galerie Karsten Greve dedicated entirely to Brassaï’s “Graffiti” series, which immortalizes the social anxieties imprinted unto the urban environment of 1930s Paris. Cheim & Read are showing a selection of Adam Fuss’s massive daguerreotypes, the largest ever made.

Paul Graham, Senami, Christchurch, NZ (green bed) (2011).
Photo: Pace/MacGill & Carlier/Gebauer, Paris Photo.

Over at the PRISMS section, New York’s Pace/MacGill Gallery and Berlin’s Carlier/Gebauer will stage a shared presentation of large scale works by British photographer Paul Graham featuring his partner Senami, in a series that marks a move for the artist into a more personal and emotive realm.

American photographer Mary Ellen Mark, who passed away in May, will be represented at the fair by Mexican Patricia Conde Galeria, and Aperture will offer her recently published monograph Tiny: Streetwise Revisited. Works by the late German photographers couple Bernd and Hilla Becher will be on view at the booth of Sprüth Magers Berlin London, alongside works by Stephen Shore.

Nick Knight, Campbell (2010). 
Photo: courtesy Christophe Guye.

There’s much on offer in terms of boundary-transgressing photography, blending fashion and art, from giants such as Herb Ritts, David LaChapelle, and Nick Knight, who will be featured in a solo booth over at Christophe Guye Galerie.

Vik Muniz, The Prado Museum, Bacchanal of the Andrians, after Titian (Repro Series), 2015
Photo: Ben Brown Fine Arts, Paris Photo

Ben Brown Fine Arts will debut a new work by Vik Muniz from his “Gift Shop” series as well as works by Los Angeles based artist Awol Erizku, exhibited at Paris Photo for the first time.

Adrian Sauer Unboxing Photoshop (2011). 
Photo: Klemm’s, Paris Photo.

In addition to the well established names, there is much to discover in terms of young artists expanding the medium’s definition. German artist Adrian Sauer questions the limits of the image in this digital age, with works that create both visual and linguistic puns on digital culture.

Dutch photographer Rachel de Joode is showing hybrid works between sculpture and photography at Christophe Gaillard gallery, which is also bringing artists Letha Wilson and Hannah Whitaker to its all-women booth.

Letha Wilson Utah Red Wall Concrete Bend (2014) .
Photo: Christophe Gaillard, Paris Photo.

Paris Photo 2015 takes place at Grand Palais, Paris from November 12–15, 2015.