Deadline: September 12, 2020
Entry Fee: from $30 to $60
Prizes: $10,000, participation in the exhibition, publication in the journal
The Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards, celebrates the book’s contribution to the evolving narrative of photography.
About
Initiated in November 2012 by Aperture Foundation and Paris Photo, the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards celebrate the photobook’s contribution to the evolving narrative of photography, with three major categories: First PhotoBook, PhotoBook of the Year, and Photography Catalogue of the Year. In this unprecedented year, it is all the more critical to be able to highlight excellence in book making and the creative output of the global photobook community. We look forward to sharing the shortlisted books in exhibition and in an expanded online presentation — and to announcing the winners in November.
Prizes
- The First PhotoBook Prize
A $10,000 prize will be awarded to the photographer(s)/artist(s) whose first finished, publicly available photobook is judged to be the best of the year. Twenty books from this category will be selected for the shortlist, presented to the Jury for the final selection and exhibited during Paris Photo. - The PhotoBook of the Year Prize
This prize will be awarded to the photographer(s)/artist(s), and publisher responsible, for the photobook judged to be the best of the year. Ten books from this category will be selected for the shortlist, presented to the Jury for the final selection and exhibited during Paris Photo. - The Photography Catalogue of the Year Prize Awarded to the publication, publisher, and/or organizing institution responsible for the exhibition catalogue or museum publication judged to be the best of the year. Five books from this category will be selected for the shortlist, presented to the Jury for the final selection and exhibited during Paris Photo.
- The shortlisted books, accompanied by the jury’s comments, will be featured in the fall 2020 edition of The PhotoBook Review issue 018 (published by Aperture Foundation), to be released at Paris Photo and mailed to Aperture magazine subscribers. Additional content and features for the shortlisted books will appear on aperture.org.
About Paris Photo
Paris Photo, the world’s largest international art fair dedicated to the photographic medium. The annual event for collectors, professionals, artists, and enthusiasts, Paris Photo offers its visitors the most qualitative and diverse selection of artworks alongside an ambitious public programme with leading figures in the field.
About Aperture Foundation
Aperture, a not-for-profit foundation, connects the photo community and its audiences with the most inspiring work, the sharpest ideas, and with each other – in print, in person, and online. Created in 1952 by photographers and writers as “common ground for the advancement of photography”, Aperture today is a multi-platform publisher and center for the photo community. From our base in New York, we produce, publish, and present a program of photography projects, locally and internationally.
Entry Fees
- First PhotoBook: $30 per book
- PhotoBook of the Year: $60 for first entry from a given publisher, $30 for each subsequent entry from the same publisher
- Photography Catalogue of the Year: $60 for first entry from a given publisher, $30 for each subsequent entry from the same publisher
Juror information
The awards will be judged in two stages. An initial jury will meet in New York to select the shortlisted entries in both categories. The final winners will be decided by a separate jury that will meet in Paris immediately before Paris Photo begins. The initial jury will include representatives of both Paris Photo and Aperture Foundation, and the final jury will include neither. Each award winner will be chosen from the juried shortlist, all of which will be exhibited at Paris Photo. The fall 2020 issue of The PhotoBook Review (published by Aperture Foundation) will feature all of the shortlisted books. Following their display during Paris Photo, an exhibition of the thirty-five shortlisted books will travel to New York (location to be announced shortly) and may be exhibited at other venues.