Eight years after the release of the second volume of The Photobook: A History, the latest installment of this encyclopedic trilogy has been published by Phaidon. Its conclusion is positive on the whole, and it demonstrates a widespread and growing interest in photobooks. In the preface, Martin Parr asserts his position as a missionary praising the photobook before a skeptical public and revisits advancements in the industry one by one, particularly self-publishing.
The photobook has grown in importance alongside prints in exhibitions, and has been the subject of trade fairs. Parr points out that, despite the proliferation of photographs on the internet and the number of digital application, the printed book has never been in better shape, citing the countless “small, dynamic publications” presented in the book.
The hidden objective of the work is to revisit the history of the photobook while doing justice to the photographers for whom the photo book is an important part of their work. This is Parr’s bit of revenge on the “historians and academics” who tend explain to artists their own process. It’s also the opportunity to add books that didn’t make the cut in the previous volumes for lack of space or time, and to feature underrepresented regions. In short, the project is about reaffirming and revitalizing the role of the photobook in the history of the medium.
Read the full article on the French version of L’Oeil.
Le Livre de Photographies : une histoire – Volume III
Phaidon Edition
Texts by Martin Parr & Gerry Badger
325 x 290 mm
320 pages
900 colors and B&W photographs
ISBN : 9780714867755
79, 95 euros
http://www.phaidon.com
http://www.martinparr.com
http://www.magnumphotos.com/martinparr
