Rémi Coignet's column

The Photobook: a History vol. 3 by Martin Par & Gerry Badger

Phaidon

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"Let's not be diplomatic. The publication in 2004 and 2006 of Martin Parr and Gerry Badger's first two books devoted to photography books changed the history of the medium. Rare precursors, Horacio Fernandez or Andrew Roth, had taken an interest in the subject, and collectors - starting with the photographers themselves - did exist. However, books were still widely considered only as a medium, a substitute for the print, for the exhibition. No one had undertaken to write the history of 150 years of photographic publishing. Martin Parr's fame may have played a part, but from then on the awareness that a book could be a work in itself, like a novel, and not just a collection of images spread." 

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