Paris Photo 2010 review

[Davec101]

I was not able to make last years Paris Photo so was therefore eager to get there this time round. Over the last 5 years I have seen the attendance rise year after year, it took almost an hour to que up and purchase tickets.

The highlights for me were numerous. I found myself gravitating towards smaller exquisitely printed images this year and was actually surprised at how many there were on offer. These included a rare postcard sized silver gelatine print of 'Chez Mondrian' Paris, 1926 by Andre Kertesz on the Howard Greenburg stand.

At the Gitterman gallery they had a small print of ’ Georgia O’Keeffe, A Portrait-After return from New Mexico, 1929 by Alfred Stieglitz . It was nice to see to read the history behind the print which I have also included

The Robert Koch gallery had a 'Self Portrait ' postcard sized print by Kertesz

An interesting gum over platinum print by Alvin Langdon Coburn entitled 'Wings' at the Hans P.Kraus stand caught me eye

On the subject of Coburn I had a chance to view his original print book on 'London'. This is a masterpiece, simply stunningly printed photogravures. One of the finest books i have had the chance to view. Those who follow my blog will know how passionate I am about books with original prints, I recently wrote an article on the subject which featured this book.

 

[Davec101]

Review Continued......

As a platinum printer who prints for other photographic artists I am naturally on the look out for prints made using this beautiful alternative printing process and again was not disappointed this year. Hamilton’s who had one of the best looking stands of the fair had a number of platinum prints for sale including those by Horst ' The Mainbocher corset,Paris 1939.

and Irving Penn with 'Woman in Moroccan Palace (Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn)', Marrakech, 1951

Two years ago a similar print sold at auction for nearly $400,000, the price of this one was quite a bit more than that. All in all a stunning print of Penn's wife in Morocco.

Robert Klien Gallery had one of my favourite still life Penn platinum print's for sale entitled ' New York Still Life' 1947. I had never seen this print in person, the tonal range Penn achieved with this print is exquisite

It was interesting to note that the label for the print, shown below, stated 'twice coated platinum/palladium print on aluminium’ I have rarely seen Penn’s prints labelled in this way. Twice coated is a reference to Penn’s technique of creating multi-layered platinum prints whereby he used successive layers of platinum/palladium and a number of negatives of varying contrast to achieve a richer tonal range and greater dmax.( Not to be confused with double coating which some contemporary platinum printers use, this only involves one exposure cycle, a single negative and are not bonded to aluminium ) Followers of the blog will know that I have been involved in detailed research into this technique and have achieved some excellent results.

I am always open to new types of photography whether it be colour or black and white, Any print that is labelled unique gets me attention. Two years ago on my blog I highlighted Paolo Roversi’s beautiful original Polaroid’s that were on show, this year I came across a collection of unique silver dye prints by Bernoit Vollmeck. These contact prints were somewhat of a visual revelation to view and have almost a daguerreotype quality to them. I had a chance to talk with the photographer who had just arrived at the stand and he said that they are created by ‘using a sheet of ilfochrome paper that is directly inserted into a large format camera and exposed to light, without the prior use of film.’ A challenging technique to master but definitely worth it as the prints were stunning to view in person.

Another photographer that caught my attention was Naoya Hatakeyama at the Sage (Paris) stand, these were quite possibly the most luminous black and white prints I have ever seen. The series entitled ‘Maquettes/Light’ featured large tower block buildings and were labelled as being silver gelatine prints with a B&W transparency and light box. The actual print/transparency was being lit from behind inside the frame. Sounds rather complicated but it was really interesting effect.

These were just the highlights of the day, if you visit the show next year make sure you allow enough time to see everything. Overall I really enjoyed the event and look forward to returning next year.

 

[Mike Crawford]

I managed to go this year, having not been for about five years and really enjoyed it. Among my favourites were Ray K Metzker at Laurence Miller and Evelyn Hofer at Gallerie M Bochum.
http://www.laurencemillergallery.com/artist_metzker.htm
http://www.galerie-m.com/artist_image_en.php?SID=0sIvgHPRV4DL&aid=65&aname=EvelynHofer
Outside of the Paris Photo event, there was a lot of great shows. Worth going just for the Kertesz retrospective at Jeu de Paume...... and the Steidl show.
Dead Link Removed

 

[Mick Fagan]

Dave, wonderful review, many thanks.

Mick.

 

[Davec101]

I managed to go this year, having not been for about five years and really enjoyed it. Among my favourites were Ray K Metzker at Laurence Miller and Evelyn Hofer at Gallerie M Bochum.
http://www.laurencemillergallery.com/artist_metzker.htm
http://www.galerie-m.com/artist_image_en.php?SID=0sIvgHPRV4DL&aid=65&aname=EvelynHofer
Outside of the Paris Photo event, there was a lot of great shows. Worth going just for the Kertesz retrospective at Jeu de Paume...... and the Steidl show.
Dead Link Removed

Hi Mike

I managed to get the Harry Callahan ‘Variations exhibition at the Henri Cartier-Bresson Gallery, which I really enjoyed, I will be writing a review of that show in the coming week. I would have liked to have seen the Kertesz exhibition, just did not have enough time, how was it?, also I just missed the Karl Lagerfeld show which i would have like to have seen.

 

[ajmiller]

I was also in Paris and saw the Kertesz which I thought was excellent. The prints on the wall were mainly contacts and small but they did provide a loupe. It was very well presented starting from his early days in Hungary through to Paris then to the US - each describing his personal life and the photographic responses as the two were inseparable I think.
I also saw the Harry Callahan which was very good.
One of the highlights though was Sally Mann at Galerie Karsten Greve. This was, for me, one of the best exhibitions I've ever seen and was very moving. I came away admiring her work more - and thinking how far ahead of the rest she is.
It was a great time to be in Paris - Mois de la Photo meant there was a feast for photographers.
There was one more exhibition I did see worth mentioning - Guillaume Zuili at incamera gallery. I've seen a lot of the works on here but it was good to see them on the wall. Nice gallery space in a smart area.

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

Very nice review Dave and beautiful selection.
"Chez Mondrian" I could look at it over and over...

I was frustrated by H.Callahan selection, there was not enough...

Kertesz exhibit was just stunning. Small contact prints mostly and the loupe was a salvation. My eyes are getting bad
The book edited for this was a jewel and weighed a ton in the bag flying back to the US.

There is a new place also worth visiting in the 17eme arrondissement close to Place Clichy. Very close to Magnum agency (proper & figurative ), it's Le Bal.
Another gallery with always interesting work is "Camera Obscura".

It's the first time since the creation that I am not there and not showing at Paris Photo. It hurts... I miss it.
Thank you AJ for visiting In Camera. Show ended last saturday :-(

 

[Mike Crawford]

Hi Mike

I managed to get the Harry Callahan ‘Variations exhibition at the Henri Cartier-Bresson Gallery, which I really enjoyed, I will be writing a review of that show in the coming week. I would have liked to have seen the Kertesz exhibition, just did not have enough time, how was it?, also I just missed the Karl Lagerfeld show which i would have like to have seen.

I liked the Callahan exhibition a lot but agree with Guillaume that it could have been bigger. However, I really enjoyed it, especially because they were quite small prints demanding close inspection.

Kertesz was so good. Sadly I had no magnifying glass for the small contacts, but like Harry C, they just demanded more attention. I trust everyone who went to the exhibition saw the 2nd half of the show, (America) upstairs where the prints were a better size. I almost missed it but for bumping into a friend from London who pointed the way! The whole four days was a bit like London on Seine; kept bumping into nice people from home all over the city.

I didn't know there was a Sarah Moon show on. Damn! Also missed Michael Ackerman at Vu which was a big shame. Wish I could go back for a day or two while the shows are on just to catch up.

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

Mike,
Yup Michael's work is amazing. If the Eurostar isn't blocked by the snow you can make it easy. They moved to Trinite, quite close from gare du Nord.
The new place is very nice.