Karl Lagerfeld Named Paris Photo 2017’s Guest of Honor
SNAP-HAPPY: Karl Lagerfeld has been tapped to be the guest of honor for the 2017 edition of Paris Photo, the sprawling fair featuring thousands of photographs at the city’s Grand Palais museum. It is set to run from Nov. 9 to 12.
“Today, photography is part of my life. It completes the circle between my artistic and professional restlessness,” Lagerfeld said.
Helping mark the occasion, he has chosen some of his favorite pictures from among those that are due to be displayed to appear in a special-edition book published by Steidl. That gives a peek into Lagerfeld’s aesthetic universe while offering his vantage point from which to view what the galleries and curators will be showcasing at Paris Photo’s 21st edition.
The designer — a multihyphenate, who is also a publisher and book dealer — began working as a photographer in 1987. He subsequently was granted the Cultural Prize from the German Photographic Society and the ICP Trustee Award from the International Centre of Photography.
Lagerfeld’s own photographs have been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions. Last May, for instance, there was one held in Cuba, which was organized by the Alliance Française. One month later, in June 2016, another was staged at Pitti Uomo in Florence.
The last guest of honor at Paris Photo was David Lynch, in 2012. He, too, was asked to cherry-pick his favorite images from the fair, and they were gathered in to a tome published by Steidl.
Photographs shown at Paris Photo were snapped between the 19th century and today. Approximately 180 gallerists and editors from around the world take part, and more than 60,000 visitors attend yearly.
Paris Photo is at the center of a monthlong round of photo exhibitions that are held at various locations throughout the City of Light. Among the fair’s official partners this year are J.P. Morgan, BMW, Leica and Huawei.
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