When the first winter chills sweep through France, a buzz of anticipation builds. During the Month of Photography, the eighth art takes center stage. For an entire month, the international photography scene converges on the city, from the left bank to the right. Several exceptional events stand out to enthrall photography enthusiasts: Paris Photo, Photo Days, Photo Saint-Germain. The Paris Photo fair alone welcomes over 200 exhibitors. From vintage to contemporary photographs, with unconventional venues, events, guided tours, workshops, and conferences, lovers of film photography won’t go away disappointed.

(Re)discovering darkroom essentials

Near Place de la Concorde, Photo Days pays tribute to the artistry of Julia Margaret Cameron. This photographic treasure trove can be found within the walls of Jeu de Paume. Take the time to explore the exhibition Arresting Beauty. Cameron’s work unfolds across some hundred photographs, combining poetry and portraiture. This unique retrospective immortalizes the decade spanning 1864 to 1875 and celebrates the grace of imperfection. Prepare to be whirled away in a dance between past and present.

The Catherine Putman Gallery presents Georges Rousse’s optical illusions in watercolor. A visionary artist celebrated globally, Rousse reinvents spaces with anamorphic shapes infused with a burst of color. The exhibition in rue Quincampoix spotlights his recent projects, which masterfully capture the magic of transparency and the depth of space.

Close and intimate

Continue your exploration by delving into the introspective gaze of Carolyn Drake, the 2021 HCB Award winner, at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson. Her series, MEN UNTITLED, unveils a personal, documentary journey into American masculinity. Blending symbols of virility, introspective self-portraits, and raw male portraits, the exhibition probes the constructs of male identity, subtly challenging the norms of masculinity.

Your journey progresses with a dive into the worlds of Irving Penn. A rare collection dating back to 1967 is brought to light at the Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery. In her captivating images, Anna Halprin, in turn, captures the essence of an improvised choreography, celebrating movement and the human form.

The Centre Pompidou also invites us to a celebration of humanity with the exhibition Corps à corps. A meticulously curated selection of historic and contemporary photographs from the Centre’s own collection, paired with the private collection of Marin Karmitz, questions our perception of the individual in modern society and highlights the photographer’s crucial role in shaping identities.

Women’s perspective in photography

The Grand Palais Éphémère is set to host Paris Photo from November 9 to 12, 2023. Each year, the event honors women’s art through the program Elles × Paris Photo, showcasing the significant contributions of female artists to the history of photography. Curated by Fiona Rogers, this edition features the works of 36 artists, including:

• Ana Teresa Barboza with her embroidered landscapes;
• Frida Orupabo, the Norwegian-Nigerian artist;
• Alejandra Laviada, the Mexican photographer known for her diverse artistic techniques;
• Martine Gutierrez;
• and many others to be discovered.

Photo Days also offers an opportunity to delve into mother–child relationships through the exhibition A partir d’elle at Le BAL (October 12, 2023 – February 25, 2024). Engage with the perspectives of 25 artists on their mothers. Figures such as Sophie Calle, Christian Boltanski, and Lebohang Kganye explore the various aspects of maternal figures and family archetypes.

Whether behind or in front of the lens, womanhood reveals its diversity during the Month of Photography in Paris.

Unconventional venues: a fusion between image and frame

During the Month of Photography, photography is showcased within unique venues. Visit Atelier Frank Horvat to step out of time. The studio stages a photographic conversation between the Hong Kong works of Frank Horvat and British artist Antony Cairns. Fiammetta Horvat, the late photographer’s daughter, aims to turn his photo studio into a space dedicated to contemporary photography encounters. Note that the exhibition can be visited by appointment only!

Continue your adventure in photography with Photo Saint-Germain at the Museum of the History of Medicine. The exhibition Phenomena: Scholars and the Mysteries of the Mind (part 2),” features a series of previously unseen photographs (part 1 was presented in 2022 at the same museum). Capturing the unexplained, these images reveal the invisible and evoke the impossible.

Did you know? Photo Days has revived La Rotonde Balzac 

Since its inception in 2020, the Photo Days festival has turned La Rotonde Balzac into a nexus of literature and photography. This year, Elger Esser brings the past to life through the photographic lens, reflecting on the evolution of technology and art. Located in the gardens of the Hôtel de Rothschild in Paris’s 8th arrondissement, the Rotonde had been shuttered for decades, unknown to Parisians and used as a gardener’s shed! Today, it has been revived thanks to Photo Days.

Experiment and reward

Matthias Pasquet offers a workshop in “Gelatin silver experimentation.” You will learn how to use rocks or other materials as your canvas. The concept? To combine the techniques of painting with photography. The lab thus becomes a place for all kinds of daring feats. Solarization, rayographs, chemigrams, and other camera-less photographic techniques will be at the heart of the artistic explorations.

Celebrating innovation, the Grand Prix Paris je t’aime × Photo Days emerges as a showcase of contemporary photographic talent. This initiative focuses on artists who capture the quintessential beauty of Paris. The theme of the 2023 edition, “Paris, Games,” turns the French capital into a blank canvas where these photographer come to deploy their creative energies.

Key takeaways:

• Dozens of exhibitions are held throughout November during Paris Month of Photography;
• Events like Photo Days, Paris Photo, and Photo Saint-Germain offer multiple tours, exhibitions, and encounters centered on photography;
• The artists featured during the Month of Photography include Georges Rousse, Julia Margaret Cameron with her photographic portraits, Irving Penn, Carolyn Drake, and many others.

Bushland fourth grader Ryder Grace Liles absolutely loves sports, especially her favorite, softball.

While Ryder Grace is like most 10-year-olds, who loves school and plays with her friends, she’s very unique in what has become her passion. In just one year, Ryder Grace has made a hobby of taking photos at Bushland sporting events and ran with it becoming a go-to asset as a well-known sports photographer in the Amarillo-area.

“I’ve always loved sports,” Ryder Grace said. “I loved watching sports and seeing sports photos. I also play sports. I play softball, volleyball and run track. I watched Bushland sports and I just wanted to try to shoot photos to see how I could do.”

Ryder Grace’s parents, Steven and Jamie, said Ryder Grace first started gaining interest in photography watching her older brother, Parker, a sophomore now at Bushland, and his friends play games, so they bought her a camera for a trial run.

“We saw how expensive cameras were so we bought a decent one to see how she would take care of it,” Steven said. “She took amazing care it. So, Jamie and I talked, and we decided to get her a better camera in February of last year.”

“Her first sports shot was at a freshman basketball game. She’d go watch her older brother Parker play. She’d shoot his games and his friends. She’s nine-years-old at the time so we didn’t know what to expect. We’re at Tascosa and she got some really good shots. She knew what she was doing, and we knew this is something she really loved.”

Ryder Grace took her photography seriously and started training herself by watching YouTube videos that made her better. Once Steven and Jamie noticed Ryder Grace’s true talent, the two got with Press Pass Sports managing partner and extraordinary photographer, Joe Garcia III, about investing in a better camera so Ryder Grace could take her photography a little more seriously.

“I reached out to Joe and asked him what kind of camera we needed to invest in for her,” Steven said. “They aren’t cheap, and we didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on the wrong camera. Joe gave us great advice on what to look for and we were able to get the right fit for her.”

Garcia eventually met Ryder Grace during basketball season last year and the two hit it off. Thanks to Garcia’s training, Ryder Grace was first published by the Amarillo Globe-News last spring and has been in the regular rotation as a football and volleyball photographer for Press Pass Sports all fall.

“Joe has helped me out a lot,” Ryder Grace said. “He’s helped me with framing, lighting, focus and getting the action shots.”

Garcia echoed Ryder Grace’s comment.

“It’s been so cool to mentor Ryder this school year,” Garcia said. “You can tell she loves her Bushland Falcons and has a passion for learning. She soaks up everything like a sponge. I’m super proud of her and I always look forward to seeing her images on Instagram.”

“I think it’s incredible that we call a 10-year-old to help us cover the Bushland Falcons, and we have all the confidence in the world that she’s going to send us top-notch photos. I can’t imagine what her images will look like when she’s 11.”

Ryder Grace has even become very popular on social media thanks to her Instagram platform. She’s not just getting noticed by Bushland students but students from other schools.

“People know who she is now because of social media,” Jamie said. “High school kids from other towns even come up to her and ask her to take pictures of them. Most kids her age are playing out with their friends, and she does too at times, but she also works her tail off on the sidelines or the court to get shots because that’s what she loves to do.”

Ryder Grace plans on continuing to shoot amazing photos and her dream is to play college softball.

British photographer Don McCullin’s work is characterised by a sweeping eclecticism, his unflinching eye translating everything from war scenes to emotive landscapes into images brutal in their honesty. Accolades include a Lifetime Achievement Award at the London Design Medals 2022. Now, a new exhibition at Palazzo Esposizioni in Rome, curated by Simon Baker, who worked closely with McCullin and leading gallerist Tim Jefferies, pays tribute to a compelling career.

‘Don McCullin in Rome‘: from pain to peace

McCullin’s preoccupation with themes of pain and peace run throughout the show. Early images are informed by his childhood in Finsbury Park, north London, while his first foray abroad, to Berlin during the building of the wall, marked the beginning of an illustrious career as a photographer. Reporting from war zones including Cyprus, Congo, Vietnam, Biafra and Syria, his unfiltered imagery of trauma and death highlighted his compassion and signature empathy during times of great personal danger. Human strength and resilience are also apparent in his documentary photography, which features communities from countries such as India, Ethiopia and the UK.

With this latest exhibition, accompanied by the monograph Life, Death and Everything in Between (Gost Books, £80, available at Amazon from 14 November), McCullin weaves together cultural and architectural threads in his documenting of the remains of the Roman Empire. In his landscapes, a series cultivated over 40 years, he eschews the romanticism of the pastoral paradise, capturing instead the waterlogged realities of the Somerset countryside he calls home, reflecting this darker side in bleak and dramatic scenes encompassing the exaltation of his surroundings. It is a sublime ecstasy that is also exquisitely captured in his still-life photographs, raw with emotional intensity. 

‘Don McCullin in Rome’ is showing until 28 January at Palazzo Esposizioni Roma, palazzoesposizioni.it. McCullin is represented by Hamiltons Gallery, donmccullin.com, hamiltonsgallery.com

This article appears in the December 2023 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print from 9 November, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

One of the best parts of landscape photography is that you can return to a location over and over as you grow as a photographer and see how your technique has progressed and your creative tastes have grown. This great video features an experienced photographer discussing evolution as a creative and sharing some of his experiences along the way. 

Coming to you from Craig Roberts of e6 Vlogs, this excellent video discusses evolution as a photographer. It can be really rewarding to look back at your work and to revisit old locations to shoot them again. Photography can be a very slow craft, and as such, you can sometimes feel frustrated by the sense that you are not really progressing. However, if you take a step back and look at your work from a wider perspective, you might be surprised by just how much progress you have made in the years you have invested. It can be really affirming and an important reminder that you are more capable than you might think. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Roberts. 

And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, “Photographing the World: Japan With Elia Locardi!” 

Last minute entries are being encouraged for a photography competition to find Exeter’s favourite trees.

Budding amateur photographers have until Friday (10 November) to submit photographs to be in with a chance of winning one of a number of fabulous prizes.

With leaves turning an autumnal gold, it’s the perfect time to capture some of the stunning colours in Exeter’s trees.

This is the fourth year running the City Council (ECC) has run the prestigious competition, teaming up with its arboricultural contractors Devon Trees Services, who are offering up a series of great prizes. The winner will be announced during National Tree Week, which runs this year from 25 November to 3 December.

The competition invites people to take a picture of their favourite tree in Exeter. Pictures must have been taken after 1 October 2023 to qualify.

The person who takes the best image will win a framed photograph of the picture and a Haynes Tree Manual, with the runner-up receiving a framed photograph of their picture. Once again there is also an under-16 category for budding junior photographers, with the same prizes for the winner and runner-up.

Last year the Council received more than 70 entries for the competition, with a lovely range of photographs.

People can upload their pictures straight into Box by using the following link https://bit.ly/3ZIP1OP, or alternatively email their entry to treesupport@exeter.gov.uk Alternatively, pictures can be sent to: Public Realm Trees, room 3.32, civic centre, Exeter EX1 1JN. Entries must be clearly marked ‘ECC tree photo competition’ and have a name, age (if under 16 years) of photographer and an accurate location of the tree and the date the picture was taken.

Pictures can be with or without people but must include a tree from within Exeter. They can be selfies, arty shots, black and white or colour images. They might be fun shots with children, friends or family in or just a simple shot of your favourite tree. If there are people in the shot, please ensure that they have given their permission to be photographed.

Pictures must have been taken recently – after 1 October 2023 – and images submitted for previous competitions will not be allowed. There is a maximum of two entries per person.

The competition is open to everyone – whether living in Exeter or outside – but entrants must be amateur photographers. The City Council reserve the right to reproduce any pictures submitted in future publications, online stories or social media posts.

A judging panel will decide the best pictures and prizes awarded to the best adult and runner-up and best junior entry and runner-up.

National Tree Week is the UK’s largest annual tree celebration, marking the start of the winter tree planting season (November to March each year). This year it will take place from 25 November to 3 December. Further information about national events can be found on the Tree Council website at https://treecouncil.org.uk/seasonal-campaigns/national-tree-week/

In the heart of the Aguda neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, a single electrical pole bears a cacophony of wires, perched at the top like a frantic bird’s nest. Although the neighborhood may have changed, and this pole might not be there, photographer Akinbode Akinbiyi preserved this moment in time.

“[The pole] is on the edge of falling apart, and yet it’s like so much about resilience and capability and communication and connection, and it has all of these things in such a simple image, in some ways,” said curator Carol Magee, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who specializes in African contemporary art. “It’s just wires but it says all of those things.”

Akinbiyi’s photograph is part of “Urban Cadence,” a traveling exhibition of photography and video now at the Weisman Art Museum that reflects the rapid growth and landscapes of megacities Lagos and Johannesburg, South Africa. The show is from Gund Gallery at Kenyon College in Ohio, and was originally scheduled to open at the Weisman in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed it.

The exhibition hosts more than 60 photos and videos by nine African artists, each offering a different perspective into Lagos and Johannesburg. Since many of the photos were shot at least 10 years ago, in the 2000s and early-to-mid 2010s, these pictures also serve as an archive of sorts.

Nigerian photographer Akintunde Akinleye’s powerful photo “Each Passing Day,” 2006, captures a man walking across a bridge. Behind him, loads of people are squeezing through a road packed with buses and cars in a densely populated urban area of Lagos.

“When you get to that place right now, the bridge has been redesigned, it’s expanded, the place has completely changed,” Akinleye said. “Of course, you still have a lot of people around that place, but the bridge, the road, everything in that place has been redesigned. But how do we tell the history of that place? Of the landscape?”

In Uche Okpa-Iroha’s “Molue Bus” series, he captures closeups of Lagos’ modes of transportation from the Bolade bus stop, near Oshodi, where men pack into yellow buses. Sometimes people stare back at the camera, but other times they’re unaware of the picture being taken.

In Sabelo Mlangeni’s black-and-white pictures of Johannesburg, he often captures scenes of the city in transition. In “Casa di Arbiter on Rissik Street (Big City series),” 2009, we see a street being repaved and blocked from traffic.

South African photographer Jodi Bieber shoots vivid color photos, often capturing the vibrancy of life in Soweto. Her vibrant photo “Giramundo Flame Grilled Chicken, Diepkloof,” 2010, shows a chicken joint painted yellow, its sign in simmering red, and a pink car parked in front.

Similarly in her photo “Orlando West Swimming Pool, Orlando West,” 2009, children fill the blue pools and a woman in a pink bathing suit gazes down, as if she is posing. Once an area known for clashes between anti-apartheid protesters and the government, Orlando is now a symbol of “new South Africa.”

Magee’s impetus for this exhibition about street photography came out of her research into photography from Africa.

“When I first began studying photography that was coming out of Africa, there was a lot of studio portraiture,” she said. “And I kept thinking there has to be some other type of photography. … I was interested in place and how people represent their connection to place, so I became interested in looking for photographers who were [doing that]. The most visually engaging were photographers from Lagos.”

Indeed, one of the most striking photos in the show is Akinleye’s “Quiet Lagos,” where a completely empty street is framed with a sign above promoting “Fashola is Working, Lagos is Working.” (Fashola refers to Babatunde Fashola, who was the former governor of Lagos State.) The picture was shot in 2011, during a time when, once a month for three hours, the bustling city shut down for a mandatory street cleaning, but photojournalists were allowed on the streets.

“The pictures I am going to take today, in 20 to 25 years’ time, are going to be more valuable to me because what they do is they keep my memory — they allow me to remember,” Akinleye said. “Because once that time has past, memory is always very short.”

‘Urban Cadence’

Where: Weisman Art Museum, 333 East River Road, Mpls.

Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wed., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thu. & Fri., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. & Sun. Ends Dec. 31.

Info: Free, wam.umn.edu or 612-625-9494.

MARQUETTE — The Marquette Regional History Center presents “The Cruise of the Abbie Returns: Photography and Adventure on Lake Superior.”

The program is 6:30 p.m. Nov. 15 at the center, located at 145 W. Spring St., Marquette.

In 1889 John M. Longyear set out on his boat to tour Lake Superior, do a little fishing and explore Isle Royale. He documented it all and presented his daughter, Abby, with a bound book of the incredible trip.

His collection of photographs impresses to this day and will be featured in the presentation.

Longyear will be portrayed by historical reenactor, Mike Brady who is Longyear’s great-great grandson. Come and enjoy humorous adventures from Longyear’s journal.

You may also enjoy our current special exhibit: “Exposing Photography,” featuring Longyear’s work among many others.

A $5 suggested donation for this program. For more info call 906-226-3571 or visit marquettehistory.org

Call 906-226-3571 for additional information or visit marquettehistory.org.