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• Issue #264
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By Michael Diemar

Grand Palais Éphémère, exterior.

This year, Paris Photo, the world's leading art fair for photography, marked its 26th edition on November 8-12. It was also the third and last edition to be held at Grand Palais Éphémère, the temporary exhibition structure erected on Champ de Mars, before the fair returns to the Grand Palais after its extensive refurbishment in 2024.

In previous years, I noted divided opinions on the Éphémère. Some exhibitors preferred it, mainly because of the sound, which is much softer than at the Grand Palais. But the Éphémère is also smaller, causing its own problems. At times it got so packed that it was almost impossible to move, especially in the long Curiosa and Book section. I met quite a few visitors who decided to give the latter a miss altogether, so it seems most visitors at least are now looking forward to the return to the Grand Palais.

"The Tokyo Toilet" by Daido Moriyama.

The space will be needed. Attendance at Paris Photo was up 7% this year, with 65,000 visitors. Altogether there were 154 exhibitors and 35 publishers, plus a public exhibition program which included "Global Visions, Local Voices", with photographs from the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection. MUUS Collection presented an exhibition of images by Fred W. McDarrah, who captured the early days of the gay rights movement in New York in the 1970s. Close by was an installation by Daido Moriyama. In 2018, Hamiltons, London, presented Moriyama's "Lip Bar", a replica of Bar Kuro in Tokyo, available in an edition of three. This time around, Moriyama had collaborated with Satoshi Machiguchi and SKWAT, to present "The Tokyo Toilet", an installation with rolls of toilet paper, made from recycled paper and printed with Moriyama images, plus video screens showing Moriyama extolling the virtues of toilets as places to meditate.

In the months leading up to fair, several dealers and gallerists told me they had had a slow summer as far as sales were concerned, pointing to uncertainty over the economy, the war in Ukraine, next year's US election. And then came the Hamas attack on southern Israel on the 7th of October, followed by the Israeli counter operation, leading to fears of other countries being dragged into the conflict. Exhibitors noted way more caution among buyers this year, with many returning several times before making the decision to buy. That they did buy was down to the quality of the works on offer because this was a particularly strong edition, especially for vintage material.

Anthony Hartley, The Photographers’ Gallery, with works by Vasantha Yogananthan.

But there was first-rate contemporary work on offer as well, including "Mystery Street", a new body of work by Vasantha Yogananthan. One of the images was chosen to grace the Paris Photo poster and the cover of the catalog. A selection of the series was presented as a solo show in the booth of The Photographers' Gallery, London. Anthony Hartley, Director at TPG Print Sales told me after the fair, "We were very pleased to be back at Paris Photo after a 10-year break. 'Mystery Street' focuses on a group of children from central, urban New Orleans as they attempt to entertain themselves during their sweltering three-month summer vacation last year. The response has been very positive indeed, partly no doubt because of all the exposure Mystery Street has received over the past few months. It was shown at The Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation over the summer, was nominated for the Prix Pictet and is currently on display at the ICP in New York."

Hartley was pleased with the sales, "Many people mentioned how bold it was of us to do a solo presentation at the fair but this was the project's first showing in a commercial context. We found many collectors who were already aware of "Mystery Street" and eager to buy. I am pleased to say we are still working on post fair sales and receiving new inquiries but sales have already exceeded our own expectations."

Charles Isaacs, New York, and Gregory Leroy, Paris, once again shared a booth. As in recent years, they were showing Mexican Photography. Isaacs told me, "Mexico is a very colorful place but most photographs made there in earlier times were black and white. We decided to include some photographers who were doing pioneering work in color, including Yolanda Andrade, Kati Horna, Rafael Doniz, and hand-colored prints by Armando Salas Portugal."

Gregory Leroy, with a 1945 dye transfer by Manuel Alvarez Bravo.

But best of all, and one of the highlights of the whole fair, was a 1945 Manuel Alvarez Bravo dye transfer, a pair of feet resting on beautiful fabric. Leroy commented, "It's an arresting, surrealist image and it's the only known print. Color is a very small portion of Bravo's work, but Mexico City had one of the few dye transfer labs outside of the US and many of the pioneers used it."

With regards to sales, Issacs told me, "We sold some of the Kati Horna during set-up. Our sales during the fair have been moderate. Last year, we mainly sold to museums. This year, it has been to private collectors but we have some very serious museum interest in much larger groups of works. We're not bubbling over right now but we're very hopeful about the next six months. Overall, we have seen fewer curators this year."

Sharing a booth has become increasingly common. This year, La Patinoire Royale Bach, Brussels, and Miyako Yoshinaga, New York, presented an exhibition of works by Melissa Shook and Ken Ohara. Yoshinaga told me, "After Melissa Shook's death from brain cancer in 2020, her daughter approached photo historian Sally Stein to suggest somebody to take care of the estate. Sally suggested me. I visited the daughter in Chelsea. Massachusetts, and was really taken with the work, and had a box of prints consigned to me straight away. I showed it in a smaller booth here last year, but it's very good to show it in a bigger booth, with Ken Ohara. They're such a good combination."

Miyako Yoshinaga, with works by Melissa Shook.

With regards to Ken Ohara, Yoshinaga said, "We started working together, but he didn't want me to promote the work, which didn't make much sense. It's simply too good to be kept in boxes. His attitude softened when we placed a large group of work with the Smithsonian. So now we can promote it, I'm glad to say."

Sales had been good. "In the case of Melissa Shook, most of the sales have been to institutions. With Ken Ohara, it has mostly been to collectors. We have sold a fold-out photo 365-day diary by him, with 35 mm contact prints, self-portraits, landscapes and still life, to a young collector. We have another fold-out photo diary, and while it's not a done deal, it is probably going to a museum."

In my previous reports on Paris Photo, I have spoken to Frish Brandt at Fraenkel, San Francisco. This autumn, it was announced that she would assume the position of President Emeritus, effective January 1, 2024, with Daphne Palmer becoming the new President.

Christian Whitworth, Fraenkel, with Diane Arbus prints.

Christian Whitworth told me about the works on display, "We brought a wide selection of our gallery artists, primarily artists from the last 40 years, including some wonderful Hiroshi Sugimoto works; Sophie Calle who has a show at Musée Picasso; Nan Goldin; and Martine Gutierrez. In addition, we have a whole wall of Diane Arbus works. They are early prints made by Diane, a set of 26 images of female impersonators from 1958 to 1962."

Sales had been good, "Things have been going really well, and we have sold a wide selection of works. This is my first Paris Photo and I'm really impressed with the fair. The turnout is simply incredible. People really know and love photography here."

Rolf Art, Buenos Aires, showed a spectacular group of works by Peruvian photographer Roberto Huarcaya; large photograms. The installation was changed during the fair. The first installation was of well-known figures in Latin American culture, the second of indigenous musicians that Huarcaya had collaborated with.

Florencia Giordana Braun, Rolf Art, with works by Roberto Huarcaya.

Director Florencia Giordana Braun told me, "We specialize in Latin American work. Roberto has been selected to represent Peru at the Biennale in Venice so we decided to present his work, alongside work by Milagros de la Torre, here at Paris Photo, the most important photography fair in the world. Roberto started working with the photograms in 2014, and having experimented for some years, he carried out this project, interacting with people from different indigenous communities, as well as cultural figures."

Sales had been better than expected, "We are extremely pleased with our sales. People have been very impressed, perhaps because overall, most works at the fair are quite traditional. This work is of a different scale, a different spirit, a different temperature!"

There was also a different temperature at the stand of 193, Paris. A solo show with Moroccan artist Hassan Hajajj. His work is a form of celebration of the visual culture of the souk, a social space and symbol of interactions and exchanges. The box frames are also shelves, filled with different kinds of cans, paint, oil, soup etc.

Gallery Director César Levy told me, "We always try to do something different and when you do a solo show, in this case with Hassan Hajajj, people remember you. It also gives an artist the possibility to really express him- or herself, so that people can really get into the work. The work is all about Morocco, and he not only created the work on the walls, but also the furniture, the patterns on the walls and the floor. Overall, we try to work with artists who have very strong identities, that say something about their countries and their cultures. We have sold about 60 % of the booth so far and I expect to sell the rest, if not before closing, then during the following weeks."

193 has created a strong profile, in a very short time. Levy explained, "We started the gallery five years ago and as we didn't have a network, we had to work really hard. We have done a lot of fairs, selecting the good ones. About a third of our artists are photographers, the others are painters or sculptors. The fairs are important because we get to talk to lot of people. Next year, we will be showing three African artists, all very experimental so we are looking forward to that."

Annemarie Zethof, Ibasho, with works by Miki Nitadori.

At IBASHO, owned by Annemarie Zethof and Martijn van Pieterson, the latter, now President of AIPAD, it was all about Japan. Zethof told me, "We like to work with themes every year and this year, we decided on a presentation of the Japanese as a people, a mix of vintage and contemporary works, mostly by Japanese photographers but also works by Casper Faasen and Chloe Jafe. We are showing a group of works from 1973 by Hideoki, a Japanese photographer, now 80-years-old. He emigrated to the US, but he and his American wife Mary went back to Japan to visit his family. They found some masks in Kyoto, and for fun, she wore the masks for his camera. While fun, it's also a commentary, social criticism on how the Japanese react to foreigners. They lived there for a while and Mary had some trouble getting accepted."

Sales had been decent, "We have done okay but people are quite cautious this year. There's a lot of uncertainty about the global situation, the economy, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. People come back several times before deciding, so it's wonderful when somebody says, "I just can't get the picture out of mind, I have to buy it!"

And there were also people who simply had to buy at Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto. There was a wide variety of works on offer, by Minna Keene, Peter Hujar, and André Kertész to name just a few, as well as Keystone Press Canada photographers.

Stephen Bulger from Toronto.

Bulger told me, "I decided to bring a combination of photographs from throughout the 20th century, contemporary works by influential photographers, as well as those who have been overlooked, and some in earlier stages of their careers. We sold a mixture of all categories, including works by Claudia Fährenkemper, Irene Fay, Jill Freedman, Louie Palu, Larry Towell and photographs by unknown photographers from the Keystone Photo Agency Canada. It was an even balance between museums and individuals, although the sales to individuals were for less expensive items."

Bulger was impressed by this year's edition of the fair. "It had a good balance of historical, modern and contemporary works. There were a large number of visitors and more than usually are still mulling over their options, whereas in previous years more people seemed anxious to make a final decision before the fair closed."

The presentation at Kicken Berlin explicitly highlighted women artists and their joint practice of the most modern medium of their time, be it within New Vision, abstraction, documentary or conceptualism. Among the artists were Aenne Biermann, Monika von Boch, Anneliese Hager, Lotte Jacobi and Helga Paris.

Petra Helck, Kicken Berlin, with works by Monika von Boch.

Director Petra Helck told me, "We call them "sheroes of photography" and among them were Monika von Boch. She was a student of Otto Steinert, one of the leaders of subjective photography in Germany. Her work was very experimental, and we have had many interesting conversations about it at the fair. Paris Photo has a very sophisticated audience. I think this is very good edition of the fair, great vintage works as well as contemporary."

Helck was pleased with the gallery's sales. "We have had a very good fair, and have sold to museums as well as collectors. We have met both old and new clients, from Europe, the US and also from Asia. My own feeling is that there were more collectors and curators from Asia before the pandemic. Hopefully, they will come back next year."

Philippe Jacquier, Lumière des Roses, with print of Gustave Le Gray’s studio in Cairo.

Lumière des Roses, based in Montreuil, has built up a loyal, not to say fanatical following over the years. They specialize in images by anonymous photographers, and rare images by named photographers. It's always a thrill to see their presentation and this year it included a microphotograph on an autochrome plate by Auguste and Louis Lumière, a wonderful image of a young woman with a camera, taken in Russia circa 1930 by an unknown photographer, a pickpocket at work in Budapest in 1964, by Gyula Zarand, and an image that received a lot of attention, of Gustave Le Gray's studio in Cairo, circa 1865–1870, by an unknown photographer. Philippe Jacquier told me, "I found it in a flea market 15 years ago. At the time, I was very close to Pierre-Marc Richard, the renowned photo historian. We met for a coffee, I showed the print to him, and said 'Maybe it's Le Gray's studio.' Two weeks later, he had found the proof that it was indeed Le Gray's studio. We showed it at Paris Photo 15 years ago. The newspaper Le Monde did a full page on it. I was young, not so experienced, and did a big mistake. I quoted a very high price, 50,000 euros. The price is 15,000 euros now, a realistic price. It's on hold and I think it will be sold."

Jacquier had had a good fair, "I'm very pleased with how things have gone. I'm always very nervous when I arrive on the first day, but that feeling disappeared after the vernissage. Our clients come to us straight away because they know that when a work is gone, it's gone, there are no other copies. We have sold about 70% of the booth so I'm happy."

Baudoin Lebon, Paris, presented an exhibition of still life this year and it was excellent. Lebon explained, "To tell you the truth, I didn't curate the show. It was put together by my curator, Judith Peyrat. She had the idea, suggested it to me and I gave her carte blanche. It's important to do that. Her idea was to show still life from 1860 until now, Charles Aubry, Paul Outerbridge, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Mapplethorpe, Joel-Peter Witkin, Roni Arat and many others. There are different media: albumen, platinum, silver, collage, and digital prints. It's very varied, but then my specialty is eclecticism! Sales have been good this year. The problem we face is the cost of the booth. We need to sell a lot to make it work, but it has worked. We sold a very nice Robert Mapplethorpe, some Luigi Ghirri, Ronit Arat, and a few other things."

Large Glass, London, and Viasaterna, Milan, had joined forces to present a solo show with Italian photographer Guido Guidi and it received a lot attention. Charlotte Schepke, Director of Large Glass told me, "Guido Guidi is in his 80s now. He has been a seminal figure who transformed the very idea of photography in Italy, from the late 60s onwards. He re-looked at landscape around his home in the Villa Romana region. What is unique is that the work is deeply personal but at the same time completely unsentimental. It's about observing place, again and again."

Charlotte Schepke, Large Glass, with Guido Guidi.

The presentation was divided into four categories, with work from 1971 to the present. "We have included his early work of facades of houses. There is also rural landscape, personal landscape and industrial landscape. Guido works in 8 x 10, they are all contact prints, no enlargements. It's part of his philosophy, not to alter enlarge, interpret, but to show exactly what he sees."

Schepke had had a good fair, "Sales have been really good. It's the first time we show at Paris Photo and we chose to do it with Guido's Milan gallery. I think it was the right work to enter Paris Photo with. The audience here is really well versed in photography."

There many exhibitors I didn't get the chance to talk to for the report in the last, frantic hours of the fair. And some declined to contribute to the report, citing poor sales. But here are some other highlights. Bruce Silverstein, New York, presented a magnificent group of works, by Man Ray, Constantin Brancusi, André Kertèsz, Edward Steichen, as well as a beautiful installation of contemporary works by Sarah Sense. The booth of Gilles Peyroulet & Cie, Paris, was put together with the eyes of true connoisseurs, and included works by Ilse Bing, Marcel Bovis, Jean Moral, as well as a beautiful glass negative by Brancusi, of Lizica Cordreanu dancing to Gymnopédies by Eric Satie in the studio of Brancusi in 1921 -1922.

Michael Hoppen, London, showed a rare set of 32 vintage prints from Masahisa Fukase's series "From Window", photographs he took of his wife as she was leaving for work in the mornings. I returned several times to the stand of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, and was particularly intrigued by pages from the mock-up of American photographer Dave Heath's book "A Dialogue with Solitude", published in 1965.

Stephen Daiter, Chicago, presented a rare set of oversized exhibition prints of André Kertèsz distortion, and strong works by Peter Hujar. Jorge Mara-La Ruche, Buenos Aires, presented a wonderful display works by Horacio Coppola, Grete Stern and Ringl + Pit, the latter the name of the studio Stern set up with Ellen Auerbach in 1930 before emigrating to Argentina in 1933.

Les Douches, Paris, had some stunning works by Robert Frank, Ray K. Metzger and Roger Catherineau. Hans P. Kraus, Jr, New York, presented beautiful works by Félix Teynard, J. B. Greene, Gustave Le Gray and others, some as part of a joint project with Jean-Kenta Gauthier, Paris, entitled "Light-Years", a series of literal and conceptual dialogues between 19th-century masters and contemporary artists.

Setting up the wall of portraits that took in over 175 years of photo history in the shared booth at Galerie Francoise Paviot and Vintage Works, Ltd.

Another highlight of the fair was the shared booth of Galerie Françoise Paviot, Paris and Vintage Works, Ltd, Chalfont, PA. They presented a joint exhibit of 29 portraits on their shared middle wall: the 19th-century images by Hippolyte Bayard, Southworth & Hawes, Charles Nègre, Nadar, Disderi, Hill & Adamson, Julia Margaret Cameron, and Lewis Carroll; and then moving on to Man Ray, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Carlo Molino among others, as well as the iconic The Peruvian Piper by Eugene Harris, which graced the cover of the Family of Man book for the seminal exhibition in 1956. In addition, the dealers showed masterworks by Gustave Le Gray, J.B. Greene, Gaston Durville and many others.

According to Alex Novak of Vintage Works, Ltd., "The Israeli-Hamas conflict had a definite effect on the show. We sold quite a few photographs, but some collectors and institutions were holding off on the bigger blockbusters that make your show profitable. We started to see this drop off in October after the massacre in Israel by Hamas. I was actually heartened by so many people and institutions coming to Paris for the fair and to our booth.

"We did very well on our introduction of the work of a new artist, but an old friend, Thomas Shillea. His classic, but contemporary images in platinum, cyanotype and archival pigment were enthusiastically received. We sold eight of his prints at the fair in various media and sizes, as well as numerous copies of his new book, which the artist signed at the show. His prints can be found here: https://www.iphotocentral.com/common/result.php/256/Thomas+John+Shillea/0/0/8.

Françoise Paviot, Pascale Jacquemine and Alex Novak in front of some of the modernist work in the booth.

"We also sold several 19th-century pieces, including a unique paper negative by Julien Vallou de Villeneuve to a French collector, and an 1870s gum dichromate photogram of leaves by Amelia Bergner, who came from a prominent Philadelphia family. The latter sold to the Antwerp Fotomuseum, which had reserved it prior to the show. Twentieth-century photographs sold leaned towards the classic, including a scarce 1960s 14 x 11 in. exhibition print of André Kertész's Pont des Arts, Paris to a Swiss collector; a Robert Doisneau ("Mm. Anita") to an Italian couple; a vintage Dorothea Lange dust bowl photo to a French institution; and a Barbara Morgan "Martha Graham, Letter to the World (Kick)" to a French collector. Several of these were repeat buyers, which is always nice to see."

The title of this Annette Messager contemporary piece that was carefully viewed multiple times by collectors and institutions alike seem to reflect the mood of many at the show: L'hesitation.

Novak noted that several museums and collectors were still looking at bigger pieces, including a large Annette Messager (ironically titled "L'hesitation"), Irving Penn's spectacular "Girl in Bed (Jean Patchett)", several Gustave Le Grays (including the famous "Brig") and an Etienne-Jules Marey of a trotting horse strip, but with several postponing their possible purchases well into next year.

"I think people and institutions are waiting for the dust to settle on the wars plural, so to speak, although it is looking slightly more positive for the economy in general." Novak later said that he had sold a six-figure American full-plate daguerreotype to an important Swiss collector after the fair.

And finally, the international photo world doesn't just come to Paris for the photographs but also to connect and reconnect with the community. Clara de Goubert and I were once again privileged to be invited to the Thursday evening dinner hosted by Alex Novak and Alain and Françoise Paviot. As in previous years, they had taken over Restaurant Maceo at 15, rue des Petits Champs, and it was wonderful to meet old friends and make new ones.

"We so enjoy bringing important photography collectors and curators together in order to build the kind of long-term friendships that are such an important factor in this field," noted Novak.

The 27th edition of Paris Photo will be held at Grand Palais, November 7-10, 2024.

Michael Diemar is a London-based collector and consultant. He is also editor-in-chief of The Classic, a new free magazine about classic photography. He is a long-time writer about the photography scene, writing extensively for several Scandinavian photography publications, as well as for the E-Photo Newsletter and I Photo Central.