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
