Intro

2016—Paris Photo and Aperture Foundation are pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 edition of the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards. The Awards this year have been organized in collaboration with C/O Berlin, a Berlin-based charitable institution committed to photography and visual media. Libyan Sugar by Michael Christopher Brown (Twin Palms) is the winner of $10,000 in the First PhotoBook category. The selection for Photography Catalogue of the Year is Wojciech Zamecznik: Photo-graphics by Karolina Puchała-Rojek and Karolina Ziębinńska-Lewandowska (Fundacja Archeologia Fotografii). ZZYZX by Gregory Halpern (MACK) is the winner of PhotoBook of the Year. A Jurors’ Special Mention is also given to Taking Stock of Power: An Other View of the Berlin Wall by Annett Gröschner and Arwed Messmer (Hatje Cantz).

A final jury at Paris Photo selected this year’s winners: Paul Graham (Photographer), Jens Hoffmann (Director of Special Exhibitions and Public Programs, Jewish Museum, New York), Agnès Sire (Director, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson), Katja Stuke (Artist and Designer, BöhmKobayashi, Düsseldorf), and Thomas Zander (Gallerist).

Thomas Zander said of the First PhotoBook winner, Libyan Sugar, “An impressive book—you feel as though you are in the war with the photographer.” Katja Stuke adds, “Libyan Sugar offers a strong combination of the personal and the documentary.”

“Great photography is the ultimate arbiter,” said Paul Graham; “the outstanding work in Gregory Halpern’s ZZYZX carries the day.”

Wojciech Zamecznik: Photo-graphics, this year’s Photography Catalogue of the Year was “A true discovery,” says Agnès Sire.

This year’s shortlist selection was made by Christoph Wiesner (Artistic Director, Paris Photo), Lesley A. Martin (Creative Director of the Aperture Foundation book program and The PhotoBook Review), David Campany, Ann-Christin Bertrand (Curator, C/O Berlin), and Dr. Rebecca Senf (Chief Curator and Norton Family Curator of Photography at the Center of Creative Photography, Tucson). The shortlist was first announced at the Opening Days of the European Month of Photography on October 1, 2016. The thirty- five selected photobooks are profiled in The PhotoBook Review, issue 011.

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. Since the announcement of the 2015 winners last November, the shortlisted titles have been exhibited in four venues internationally. In total, the 2015 Shortlist was seen in seven countries, including Huis Marseille in Amsterdam, Riga Photomonth in Latvia, the International Festival of Photography in Łódź, Poland, the Landskrona Foto Festival in Sweden, and the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival in Toronto.

Following Paris Photo, the 2016 exhibition of the shortlisted books will travel to Ivorypress, Madrid (November 29, 2016–January 19, 2017), Aperture Gallery, New York (December 10, 2016–February 4, 2017), Düsseldorf Photo Weekend, Germany (February 3–5, 2017), Palm Springs Photo Festival, California (May 7–12, 2017), Lumière Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow (May 2017), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Le Locle, Switzerland (June 17–October 15, 2017), and College of Art and Design, Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (August 25–October 21, 2017), among other venues.

About the 2016 Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards
PhotoBook of the Year: This prize is 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 were selected for the shortlist, presented to the jury for the final selection, and exhibited during Paris Photo.

First PhotoBook: A $10,000 prize is 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 were selected for the shortlist, presented to the jury for the final selection, and exhibited during Paris Photo.

Photography Catalogue of the Year: 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 were selected for the shortlist, presented to the jury for the final selection, and exhibited during Paris Photo.