PARIS.- Paris Photo, the ultimate international fair dedicated to the photographic medium, closed the doors to its 22nd edition on Sunday 11 November, following robust sales, generated by spectacular presentations across the five sectors. The preeminent rendez-vous for artists, influential institutions, private collectors and discerning amateurs, attracted 68,876 visitors, representing a 6.7 per cent increase on the previous year. International attendees accounted for 40 per cent of the visitors.

Paris Photo, which offers a complete overview of the medium’s development from its early days to the most current experimental expressions, brought together 168 galleries and 31 editors representing 30 countries.

Significant sales were reported every day during the five days with transactions taking place across all five sectors - main gallery, books, films, PRISMES, which is dedicated to serial works, large formats and installations, and Curiosa, the new thematic sector, focusing this year on the body, gender and eroticism.

Some sales highlights include: Hamiltons proposed several Avedons this year ranging from 85,000 to 555,000 euros and noted considerable sales. The portrait of John Szarkowski by Richard Avedon sold by Pace MacGill for 75,000 euros. The latter also sold two works by Richard Learoyd for 55,000 euros and 60,000 euros respectively. In addition, Danziger Gallery parted with 6 artworks by Robert Frank, each selling for between 60,000 euros and 180,000 euros. Howard Greenberg sold a fotogram by Loaslo Moholy-Nagy for 220,000 euros. The vintage silver print by Edward Weston ‘Pyramid of the Sun, San Juan Teotihuacán’(1923)shown by the Parisian gallery Gregory Leroy, has been bought by an American museum for 185,000 euros. Françoise Paviot achieved 70,000 euros for a rare photobook on Japan by Felice Beato (1863). Carlier Gebauer parted with six works by Richard Mosse’s, each selling for 30,000 to 40,000 euros. The portraits ‘intervowen’ by the Swahili artist, Kyle Meyer, presented within a solo show by Yossi Milo gallery, have all been sold for 15,000 euros each to private collectors and art foundations. Galerie Binôme sold out its booth, made up of a solo show dedicated to Edouard Tauffenbach within the Curiosa sector. In the PRISMES sector, the series by the Nigerian artist Uche Okpa-Iroha, presented by L’Agence à Paris, was a huge success with the collectors.

Paris Photo enjoyed a strong turnout from trustees and patrons’groups, as well as from established and new collectors. Groups from more than 100 leading international museums and institutions from Europe, North America (US, Canada), Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East were present in large numbers. They included groups from the MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, LACMA, J. Paul Getty Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, SF MoMA, Smithsonian Institute, Art Institute of Chicago, Guggenheim, the Hammer, the Fine Arts Museum of Ontario, National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, MALBA, Argentina, Museo de Arte in Lima, M+ of Hong Kong, the Yuz Museum in Shanghai, National Gallery of Australia, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, FOAM of Amsterdam, the Hayward Gallery, Leopold Museum (Vienna), Istanbul Museum of Art, MAMCO (Geneva), MAXXI (Rome), the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), Tate (London), the Serpentine Gallery (London), Courtauld Institute of Art (London). French museums were also strongly represented and included the Pompidou, Musée d’Orsay, Palais de Tokyo, Mamac (Nice), musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Musée du Louvre, Musée Guimet …

More than 300 artists attended Paris Photo to sign books and take part in the rich programme of talks. They included: William Klein, Joel Meyerowitz, JR, Daido Moriyama, Harry Gruyaert, Antoine d’Agatha, Sophie Calle, Raymond Depardon, Franck Horvat, Sarah Moon, Sabine Weiss…

Commenting on this year’s edition, Florence Bourgeois, Director, and Christophe Wiesner, artistic director, said: “There was an energy and vitality this year that was quite remarkable. The galleries from across all the different sectors chose to bring their highest quality works to Paris Photo and presented these in spectacularly curated booths. A significant number of galleries, 39 in all, took very strong positions, showing solo and duo shows.

“The whole ecosystem of art dedicated to the photographic medium, including highly influential private and public collectors, artists and editors, came together and the encounter with the galleries’ outstanding presentations created an effervescent atmosphere from the very early hours of the fair, leading to robust sales throughout the five days.”

“We were very pleased with the reaction to the new Curiosa sector which was this year devoted to body, gender and eroticism and was curated by Martha Kirszenbaum. This proved to be very popular with two of the galleries completely selling out.”

Another new initiative this year was Paris Photo’s collaboration with France’s Ministry of Culture to honor women artists, through a specific itinerary, ELLES x PARIS PHOTO, curated by Fannie Escoulen, that highlighted 100 works across the fair. Brigitte Macron, France’s first Lady, and Franck Riester, Minister of Culture, showed particular interest in this itinerary when they visited the fair.