26 Nov 2010

Paris Photo 2010: the best edition in 14 years

Paris Photo 2010: the best edition in 14 years
'An excellent year,' 'splendid 14th edition,' 'one of the best editions ever seen.' These were some of the headlines in the press hailing the success of the 14th edition of Paris Photo which closed on Sunday 21st November.
 
The 14th edition of Paris Photo turned the spotlight on central Europe – Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia – and included 106 exhibitors from 25 countries. Some 38,000 visitors came to the fair, compared to 40,150 in 2009, a slight decrease in number owing to the fact that there was no late night opening this year.
 
Sales took off
Transactions went at a sustained pace and most exhibitors reported a better volume of sales compared to 2009. Some achieved results that were described as 'exceptional,' 'astonishing,' 'miraculous,' by the gallery owners themselves whose expectations were modest owing to the prevailing economic climate.
 
Beautiful presentations and plenty of discoveries:
Visitors, collectors, institution directors were unanimous in their praise for the high quality of the exhibits, the beauty of the works and their excellent presentation as well as the good number exciting discoveries that arose from the exploration of the Central European scene.  Firmly anchored in a rich historical ground, the Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Slovenian and Slovakian scenes are today undergoing a renaissance. In addition, the exhibitions of the finalists of the BMW-Paris Photo Prize, Leica Camera's show 'A Juste Titre' as well as the SFR Young talents show won many accolades from the public.
 
Paris, world capital of photography
This year Paris Photo coincided with a number of key auctions, including the Avedon sale at Christie's and a big auction at Sotheby's. It also took place in the context of the 30th anniversary of Photography Month which offered a plethora of exhibitions throughout the city, in addition to a number of 'Off' fairs and happenings. More than ever, Paris Photo is the world's leading event for photography and Paris is its global capital in November.
 
Paris Photo 2011: from Bamako to Cape Town, African photography
From 17th to 20th November 2011, Paris Photo will be back on the road to discovery, heading to the African continent to highlight talents from Bamako to Cape Town. Six platforms will be created to spotlight the diversity of both historical and contemporary creativity in sub-Saharan Africa. Paris Photo will select the content of these platforms with the help of artistic advisor Simon Njami.*
 
* A writer, art critic and independent curator, Simon Njami conceived the exhibition Africa Remix, the first Africa pavilion at the Venice biennale in 2007 with Fernando Alvim. He was also behind A Collective Diary (Tel Aviv 2010) and A Useful Dream, fifty years of photography in Africa  (Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, 2010). Njami was co-founder of La Revue Noire and served as its Chief Editor. He was director of the Bamako biennale for 10 years and his latest book is a biography of Léopold Sédar Senghor (Fayard, 2007).
 
 
Order the 2010 Paris Photo catalogue
at a preferential rate of €15 instead of €20 (shipping not included) on www.parisphoto.fr (see 'onlineshop' section) 392 illustrated pages, bilingual French/English. Discover all the exhibitors and artists of the 2010 Fair. Special section on photography in Central Europe by curator Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez.
 
 
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