Edward Burtynsky, Rice Terraces #2, Western Yunnan Province, China, 2012, Flowers, London, UK

The iconic photography fair Paris Photo hosts its annual edition this month, from November 14 through 17. Drawing 54,000 visitors last year, the fair is set to receive an even larger crowd in 2013, following the international success of its glossy spinoff, Paris Photo Los Angeles. Its continual impact is what makes Paris Photo widely recognized as the world’s most prestigious photography art fair.

Toshio Shibata, Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture, 2006, chromogenic print, Polka Galerie, Paris, France

The fair will be held at the Grand Palais, an exhibition hall full of rich Parisian history. Host to 136 galleries, which includes 28 new participants, the program features a diverse range of exhibitions. Endless displays of historic, Contemporary, and Modern photography celebrate this rapidly expanding medium.

Gordon Matta Clark, Sliced Brick Building, 1977, two black and white photographs with cuts, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, IL

Typically, exhibits, events, and awards are jam packed throughout the fair. Viewers should not miss the Private Collection exhibition, which focuses on curated works from the collection of Europe’s most important Contemporary collector, Harald Falckenberg. The exhibition pays tribute to the importance of private collectors in the art world, who expose new concepts and forms by investing in great artists and works.

Jory Hull, Porsches, 2013, digital chromogenic print, Feroz Galerie, Bonn, Germany

The exhibition Recent Acquisitions features three international collections, including Brazilian photography from the Instituto Moreira Salles in Rio depicting urban landscapes, a set of photographs by Arnaud Maggs from the Art Gallery of Ontario, and a series portraying the crisis in Egypt from the Museum Folkwang in Germany.

Massimo Vitali, Mercado CEAGESP Sao Paolo, 2013, analog digital diptych, Brancolini Grimaldi, London, UK

On the subject of documentary photography, beloved Magnum Photos artist Martin Parr (British, b.1952) heads the Open Book exhibition, presenting Protest Photo Books, a series depicting contemporary insurrections.

Erwin Blumenfeld, Nude Waving Behind Perforated Screen, c.1955, gelatin silver print, Bruce Silverstein, New York, NY

This year’s standouts include San Francisco’s Robert Koch Gallery in Booth A33. On display will be a mix of vintage works, including works by iconic compositional photographer Andre Kertesz (American/Hungarian, 1894–1985), as well as Contemporary tintypes by Ed Drew (American). Drew’s works are the first known tintypes used to depict war since the American Civil War. Rhona Hoffman Gallery takes a conceptual approach, featuring early photographic work by Vito Acconci (American, b.1940), Robert Heinecken (American, 1931–2006), and Gordon Matta-Clark (American, 1943–1978) in Booth B14.

After browsing the exhibits, visitors can engage in the Paris Photo Platform, which features interviews, lectures, and performances. They can also catch the Paris Photo Book Awards, which grants US$10,000 to one of the 30 artists selected to participate.

Throughout the year, Paris Photo devotes itself to the photography industry, making the fair a large contributor to the growth of the medium. Despite this year’s challenge of creating a new spinoff fair, Paris Photo Los Angeles attracted a crowd of over 13,500 visitors. True to the institution’s core mission, this event embraced a wide range of styles and subjects. Another industry addition in 2013 was the new component of Paris Photo’s online site, Agenda. The website serves the arts community as a resource which publishes news from exhibitors and partner organizations, as well as exhibition details from important photography galleries. These various endeavors not only shape the medium, but also set the standard for the scope of the fair long before it begins, creating an incomparable art-world event.

Paris Photo
November 14–17, 2013
21 Avenue Winston-Churchill
75008 Paris, France

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