The 52nd edition of the Foire à la Photo de Bièvres, organized by the Photo Club de Paris Val-de-Bièvre, with the help of the city of Bièvres and the Conseil Général of Essonne, runs June 6th and 7th in Bièvres. The event is a must for professional photographers, collectors, graphic designers, illustrators, publishers and photo lovers. Jean-Claude Gautrand looks back at the festival’s history:
“In the 1960s, in response to the state’s indifference to the widespread closure of art fairs and galleries, private initiatives were taken to promote photography in the cultural landscape, which was then occupied mostly by reporters and photo lovers. The former had little concern for the aesthetic and cultural aspect of photography; it was how they paid the bills. Then photo clubs began to emerge. Few of the clubs considered the past and future of photography. They were mostly interested in taking ‘beautiful’ photographs, hence the bland conformity exhibited by most of them.
Some of the clubs were the exception. The most important were the Photo Ciné Club du Val de Bièvres and the Club Photographique de Paris, les 30X40. They were opposites in how they worked and what they wanted to achieve: the former was all about technique, while the latter was more interested in the artistic side and the ‘auteur’ status of the works. Both would be active in different fields.”
Read the full article on the French version of L’Oeil.
