Opening, June 1, 2023, 8 pm

Freiraum & Salon

FOTO WIEN 2023 Opened Its Anniversary Year with Three Exhibitions:

Crossing Lines: Politics of Images examines how imagery is circulated by photography using examples of scenes of conflicts and areas of crisis. The exhibition brought together historical and contemporary works by more than fifteen international artists.

Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards presented the exhibition on excellent contemporary photo books from 2021 and 2022 for the first time in Austria. With this exhibition, which was coproduced by Aperture and Paris Photo, FOTO WIEN highlighted the outstanding role of the printed image since the discovery of photography.

How to Make a Book with Steidl — Publisher and curator Gerhard Steidl made transparent how photo books are created. A unique insight into a special, still analog book culture.

Opening Party with Cassy (Kwench Records, AUT) and Peter Kruder
Visuals: JuToJo Collective Berlin

Night & Day – 24 Hours Talents, June 1, 8 pm—1 am and June 2, 12 pm—6 pm 2023

MuseumsQuartier, Arena21

A public colloquium was held in the context of FOTO WIEN on June 1 and 2. During the event at Arena 21, students from the University of Applied Arts, the Academy of Fine Arts, and the School of Artistic Photography Friedl Kubelka presented current photographic works in a discussion with international representatives of the photography scene, the students, and the audience.

Moderation:
Adam Broomberg, Artist, London & Berlin
Rafał Milach, Artist, Warsaw
Stefanie Moshammer, Artist, Vienna
Emese Mucsi, Curator, Capa Center, Budapest
Peter Puklus, Artist, Budapest
Andrzej Steinbach, Artist, Berlin

Curated by Anna Charlotte Schmid and Tobias Laukemper

© Michael Seirer Photography — Night & Day – 24h Talents FOTO WIEN 2023: Adam Broomberg (artist) with students of the Universität für angewandte Kunst, the Akademie der bildenden Künste and the Schule für künstlerische Photographie Friedl Kubelka

OPENING DAYS, June 2—6,2023, 12 pm

Program Fri., June 2:

12.00 — Politics of Images: Practices, Panel (ENG)

Taking photographs in places of crisis and war always entails decisions about the form of representation, interacting with the habitat, and involving the locals. What does this mean for the practices of working as a photographer or artist? What structures, differences, and commonalities can be identified?

Adam Broomberg, Artist, London & Berlin,
Sasha Kurmaz, Artist, Kyiv
Susan Meiselas, Artist & Magnum Photos member, New York City
Moderation: Kateryna Radchenko, Founder Odesa Photo Days
Moderation: Felix Hoffmann, Art historian and artistic Director FOTO ARSENAL WIEN & FOTO WIEN

© eSeL.at – Lorenz Seidler — OPENING DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Felix Hoffmann (artistic director FOTO ARSENAL WIEN), Susan Meiselas (artist, Magnum Photos member New York City), Adam Broomberg (artist), Kateryna Radchenko (founder Odesa Photo Days)

14.00 — The Politics of Images: Circulation, Panel (ENG)

From photographs to media images, no image is created in a vacuum. Through their dissemination and distribution, they influence society, individuals, and sometimes even cultural, social, and religious parameters, while also reflecting them. The exhibition Crossing Lines focused on forms of distribution and circulation of images that were published—and continue to be published—as books, magazines, or via digital channels. What is the impact of this?

Florian Ebner, Head of the photography collection Centre Pompidou, Paris
Rafał Milach, Artist & Magnum Photos member, Warsaw
Moderation: Katja Müller-Helle, Professor and art historian Humboldt-Universität Berlin

© eSeL.at – Lorenz Seidler — OPENING DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Rafał Milach (artist, Magnum Photos member), Katja Müller-Helle (professor, art historian Humboldt-Universität Berlin), Florian Ebner (head of the photography collection Centre Pompidou Paris)

16.00 — The Politics of Images: Lines of Reception, Panel (ENG)

The perception, appropriation, and acceptance of images have not only changed in recent years; they have also become part of propaganda, manipulation, and investigation since February 24, 2022. How has the use and influence of images changed?

Abigail Solomon-Godeau, Professor, critic and art historian
Moderation: Steffen Siegel, Professor and photography historian Folkwang University of Arts, Essen

© eSeL.at – Lorenz Seidler — OPENING DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Abigail Solomon-Godeau (critic and art historian), Steffen Siegel (professor and photography historian Folkwang University of Arts Essen)

18.00 — The Politics of Images: Front Lines, Panel (ENG)

How should war be depicted in the 21st century? What internal and external limits do photographers have when they take pictures in eastern Ukraine? Based on direct reports from several Ukrainian photographers, the most current questions were discussed.

Sasha Kurmaz, Artist, Kyiv
Evgeniy Maloletka, Photographer, journalist and filmmaker, Kyiv
Moderation: Kateryna Radchenko, Founder Odesa Photo Days

© eSeL.at – Lorenz Seidler — OPENING DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Kateryna Radchenko (founder Odesa Photo Days), Evgeniy Maloletka (photographer, journalist and filmmaker)

Program Sat., June 3:

12.00 — The Politics of Images: The Printed Image and the Photobook, Conversation (ENG)

For over twenty-five years, Gerhard Steidl has been one of the world’s most important figures in book production, especially in the field of photography. His books are not only products, but works with which many photographers strongly identify. In 2004 Badger published, together with Martin Parr, The Photobook: A History, which appeared in two volumes and was the first to honor the photo book medium as a genre in its own right. What is the position of the photo book medium and what does its future look like?

Gerhard Steidl, Publisher
Gerry Badger, Photographer and curator

© Michael Seirer Photography — OPENING DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Gerhard Steidl (publisher), Gerry Badger (photographer, curator)

14.00 — The Politics of Images: MAGNUM Photos / Past and Future, Panel (ENG)

Photography combines different orientations and fields of action, ranging from photojournalism and art to supporting activism. What can photography achieve in the twenty-first century? What can it contribute to images of war and crisis? Three artistic generations of the photographer cooperative Magnum Photos, Paris, explored topics of research, investigation, manipulation and propaganda.

Susan Meiselas, Artist & Magnum Photos member, New York City
Sabiha Çiemen, Artist & Magnum Photos member, Istanbul
Rafał Milach Artist & Magnum Photos member, Warsaw
Moderation: Diane Dufour, Director Le Bal, Paris

© Michael Seirer Photography — OPENING DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Susan Meiselas (artist, Magnum Photos member), Diane Dufour (director Le Bal Paris), Sabhia Çiemen (artist, Magnum Photos member), Rafał Milach (artist, Magnum Photos member)

16.00 — The Politics of Images: Collecting Digital Practices, Panel (ENG)

Digital art does not come from nowhere, nor does it exist in a vacuum. It challenges traditional methods of ownership, interaction, distribution, and participation. Photography and performance have long struggled with many of the same questions and have been successfully included in collections. What can we learn from these practices to create better models for showing, displaying, and including digital art in contemporary art institutions today?

Christian Lübbert, Junior curator Secession, Vienna
Eva Fischer, Director of the media art festival CIVA – Contemporary Immersive Visual Art, Vienna
Moderation: Barbara Cueto, independent digital curator, Berlin

© Michael Seirer Photography — OPENING DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Barbara Cueto (independent digital curator), Eva Fischer (director of the media art festival CIVA – Contemporary Immersive Visual Art Vienna), Christian Lübbert (junior curator Secession Vienna)

18.00 — The Politics of Images. AI and Deep Talk, Panel (ENG)

Artificial Intelligence is nothing new but the ever-growing world of images around us has facilitated immense data sets to train it, and it has gotten incredibly good at making us doubt what is real, man-made, and authentic. ChatGTP, Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion are generating a paradigm shift. As the role of AI manufacturing images spreads, how does this affect our perspective of reality? Many would say that propaganda and photo manipulation has been part of photography since its inception. How can we navigate this brave new world of nonhuman image-making?

Darius Himes, Head of the photography departement Christie’s, author, lecturer, publisher
Axel Stockburger, Artist and professor University of Fine Arts, Vienna
Sebastian Schmieg, Artist and professor for Interfacedesign HTW Dresden
Moderation: Barbara Cueto, independent digital curator, Berlin

© Michael Seirer Photography — OPENING DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Barbara Cueto (independent digital curator Berlin), Sebastian Schmieg (artist and professor for Interfacedesign HTW Dresden), Axel Stockburger (artist and professor University of Fine Arts, Vienna), Darius Himes (head of the photography departement Christie’s, author, lecturer, publisher)

19.00 — Prompt Battle (GER)

Based on the Rap Battle format, Prompt Battle was an event in which people compete against each other using speech. AI-supported text-to-image software enabled users to generate new complex photos, images, and illustrations out of thin air by typing in image descriptions, or prompting. The audience decided who elicits the most surprising, disturbing, or beautiful images from latent space, and who emerged as the winner.

Florian A. Schmidt, Professor for conceptual design and media theory HTW Dresden
Sebastian Schmieg, Artist and professor for Interface design HTW Dresden

© Michael Seirer Photography — OPENING DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: PROMPT BATTLE

BOOK DAYS is a meeting place for photo book aficionados, collectors, publishers, photo book dealers, and photographers, curated by Regina Maria Anzenberger.

For the anniversary edition, FOTO WIEN invited thirty international publishers from fourteen countries for a photo book fair. The participants were from Austria, China, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Ukraine, and the United States.

A rich program focused on the medium of the photo book, with artist talks, readings, performances, and book signings with photographers including Gerry Badger, Sabiha Çimen, Jason Eskenazi, Andi Galdi, Tanja Lazetic, Rafał Milach, Boris Mikhailov, Emese Mucsi, Klaus Pichler, Eva Szombat, and Karolina Wojtas.

Date and Time:

June 3, 12 pm—8 pm

June 4, 12 pm—6 pm

Publishers:

• AnzenbergerGallery bookshop, AT
• BLOW UP PRESS, PL
• Buchkunst Berlin, DE
• Clara Bahlsen, DE
• Drittel Books, DE
• FOTOHOF edition, AT
• Gallery Container, GE
• Hartmann Books, DE
• Kehrer Verlag, DE
• La Maison de Z, CHN-FR
• Lithuanian Photobooks, LT
• Mack Books, GB
• Red Hook Editions, USA
• Red Zet, UKR
• Rohrhof, IT
• Spector Books, DE
• Sputnik Photos, PL
• Steidl Verlag, DE
• Studio of Young Photographers (FFS), HU
• The Angry Bat, SLO
• The Eriskay Connection, NL
• Ukrainian Women Photographers Organization, UKR
• UPHA (Ukranian Photographic Alternative), UKR

Schools and Universities:

• Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest, HU
• School of Artistic Photography Friedl Kubelka, AT
• University of Applied Arts Vienna, Class of Photography, AT
• University of Applied Arts Vienna, Students Class Applied Photography and Time-based Media, AT

Program Sat., June 3:

13.00 — “The Americans List” – The Many Faces of a Picture, Reading (ENG)

How large an impact can a single book have? Jason Eskenazi asked 368 photographers and photography experts to name their favorite photo in the legendary photo book The Americans by Robert Frank, which resulted in “The Americans List.”

Jason Eskenazi, Photographer and publisher
Josef Polleross
Gerry Badger
Boris Mikhailov etc.

© Michael Seirer Photography — BOOK DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: Jason Eskenazi (photographer, publisher)

14.00 — Have You Ever Seen All Editions of The Americans?, Talk (GER)

Dozens of editions of Robert Franks’s The Americans exist in just as many languages. Two photography enthusiasts and passionate collectors talked about one of the most famous photography books of all times, presenting every edition of the book from the first edition to the Chinese edition and explaining why this book continues to inspire all generations of photographers.

Josef Chladek, Photo book collector and founder of the Virtual Bookshelf
Andreas Bitesnich, Photographer and photo book collector

© Michael Seirer Photography — BOOK DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Andreas Bitesnich (photographer, photo book collector), Josef Chladek (photo book collector, founder of the Virtual Bookshelf)

15.00 — A Hoax, an Internet Scam or an Act of Agricultural Bio-Terrorism, Interview (GER)

Klaus Pichler examines various scientific topics in his work as an artist. His new photo book is about the “unsolicited” seeds from China that were sent to about eighty-five thousand households in the United States and—although they were the part of an online sales scam—were treated as a biological attack on the US.

Klaus Pichler, Artist
Ruth Horak, Art historian

© Michael Seirer Photography — BOOK DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Ruth Horak (art historian), Klaus Pichler (artist)

16.00 — Perfectionism: 100 Flowers, Interview (ENG)

Slovenian artist Tanja Lažetić attempted to “enhance” images of flowers to create perfect blossoms by digitally modifying photographs and negatives. Her adaptation of “nature” to a fashionable taste exposes the behavior behind the permanent changes of the human body and the environment. In 2014 Gerry Badger selected Lažetić’s book Whore for The Photobook: A History. What role do themes of digital artificiality, perfectionism, and aesthetics play in Lažetić’s new photo book?

Tanja Lazetic, Photographer
Moderation: Gerry Badger, Photographer and curator

© Michael Seirer Photography — BOOK DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Gerry Badger (photographer, curator), Tanja Lazetic (photographer)

17.00 — PUBLISH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK – New Ways of Book Making, Presentation (ENG)

An important figure in the international art market (currently at Christie’s, New York; director of the Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, until 2018), Darius Himes founded the publishing house Radius Books in 2007 and before that was founder and editor of the photo-eye Booklist, a quarterly magazine published on the subject of photo books. In 2023 the third edition of PUBLISH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK will be published. What is the role of the photo book today? What is the role of the photo book and self-published books?

Darius Himes, International Head of Photographs at Christie‘s

© Michael Seirer Photography — BOOK DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: Darius Himes (International Head of Photographs at Christie‘s)

18.00 — HAFIZ, Talk (ENG)

Sabiha Cimen is a Turkish photographer and member of the renowned Magnum Photos agency. Her work focuses on the lives of young Muslim women in Turkey and the forms of female resistance within circles of friends and family. Her book Hafiz won the First PhotoBook Award of the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation in 2022. Bernd Stiegler talked to Sabiha Cimen about her experiences as a girl in a Qur’anic school and how she came to publish an award-winning book about it.

Sabiha Cimen, Photographer
Bernd Stiegler, Literary scholar, photo historian University of Konstanz

© Michael Seirer Photography — BOOK DAYS FOTO WIEN 2023: (from left to right) Bernd Stiegler (photo historian, literary scholar University of Konstanz), Sabiha Cimen (photographer)

Signing Sat., June 3:

13.00 — Kurt Kaindl, Nach der Arbeit. Im Haus von Inge Morath. / Fotohof

14.30 — Boris Mikhailov, From ‘blaue horse’ till now days 1965-2022 / AnzenbergerGallery bookshop

15.00 — Andreas H. Bitesnich, Paris, New York, Berlin, Lissabon, … / AnzenbergerGallery bookshop

15.00 — Beatrice Signorello, Plantsch! A Summer in Gänsehäufel / Schule Friedl Kubelka

15.00 — Eugenia Maximova, Silent River / Fotohof

15.30 — Adam Broomberg, Mack Books

16.00 — Klaus Pichler, A hoax, a prank, an internet scam or an act of agricultural bio-terrorism / AnzenbergerGallery bookshop

16.00 — Ruth Horak and Others, FototechnikA / Fotohof

17.00 — Florian Bachmeier, In Limbo / Buchkunst Berlin

17.00 — Tanja Lazetic, 100 Flowers / AnzenbergerGallery bookshop

17.00 — Nina Weymann, Searching for the old bearded fisherman / The Angry Bat

17:30 — Autor am Tisch: Michael Ponstingl, Geschäfte mit Kopien / Fotohof

18.00 — Damien Daufresne, Undertow / BLOW UP PRESS

18.00 — Michaela Spiegel / Instant Memoir / Kehrer Verlag

18.30 — Judith Stehlik, Feel the Body / Fotohof

19.00 — Darius Himes, Publish Your Photography Book / AnzenbergerGallery bookshop

19.00 — Henrik Strömberg & Jens Soneryd, object amnesic: a compost manifesto (only Jens Soneryd will be present) / Blow Up Press

Program Sun., June 4

12.00 — Exhibitions Come and Go: A Book Is Forever, Talk (ENG)

Until the 1990s Boris Mikhailov’s works were rarely exhibited in public. With an oeuvre spanning nearly fifty years, he is considered one of the most prominent voices in contemporary photography and stands both politically and artistically for a new generation in a post-Soviet world. His work has been featured in countless books and exhibitions. Gerry Badger talked with Boris Mikhailov about his most important photo books.

Boris Mikhailov, Artist
Gerry Badger, Photographer and curator

13.00 — Protest Books and their Effect, Talk (ENG)

What is the role of the printed image in the age of social media? Rafał Milach is the founder of the Archive of Public Protests, a collective of authors and photographers. Since 2015 they have been documenting political protests and have published Strike Newspaper. Milach joined the prestigious agency Magnum Photos in 2018. Gerry Badger talked to him about the political situation in Poland and the impact of his protest photography and protest books.

Rafał Milach, Photographer
Gerry Badger, Photographer and curator

14.00 — Women Photography 1: The Photo Book as a Statement, Talk & Performance (ENG)

How can thinking about childhood and the school system lead us to question our past, present, and our possible future at the same time? In her project Abzgram, media artist Karolina Wojtas breaks every conceivable rule of photography, whether through quirky compositions, oversaturated colors, blurring, or the aggressive use of flash.

Karolina Wojtas, Artist, PL
Emese Mucsi, Curator Robert Capa Center for Photography, Budapest

BOOKS: Karolina Wojtas, Abzgram (C / O Berlin Talent Award winner), Spector Books, Leipzig, 2023

15.00 — Women Photography 2: The Photo Book as a Female Statement / Taboo-Breaking Books, Panel (ENG)

Andi Gáldi Vink. (Sorry I Gave Birth I Disappeared But Now I’m Back) and Éva Szombat (I Want Orgasms, Not Roses) have enjoyed great success with their taboo-breaking books in which they reflect on motherhood, sexuality, trauma, shame, desire, acceptance, and rebellion through photography. What are the similarities and differences in their perspectives on the female experience? Do the two female photographers belong to a new generation that uses photobooks to seek equality, intimacy, and liberation in order to make a statement?

Andi Gáldi Vinkó, Photographer
Éva Szombat, Photographer
Moderation: Emese Mucsi, Curator, Robert Capa Center for Photography, Budapest

BÜCHER BOOKS: Andi Gáldi Vinkó, Sorry I Gave Birth, I Disappeared But Now I’m Back, Trolley Books, London, 2022, Éva Szombat, I Want Orgasms, Not Roses, Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, & Everybody Needs Art, Budapest, 2022

Signing Sun., June 4:

12.00 — Florian Bachmeier, In Limbo / Buchkunst Berlin

14.00 — Lena Baloch, bruch stück / Fotohof

15.00 — Olena Morozova, Granny / RedZet

15.00 — Eugenia Maximova, Silent River / Fotohof

15.00 — Marta Zgierska & Mateusz Sarełło, Garden / BLOW UP PRESS

16.30 — Eva Szombat / I want Orgasms, not Roses / Kehrer Verlag