The rise of New Zealand photobooks
The rise of New Zealand photobooks
Published by Momento Pro
30 May, 2016
The inaugural Photobook New Zealand Festival 2016 and NZ Photobook of the Year Awards 2015 brought together photographers, designers and publishers, and showcased their work to the growing local and international photo book loving community.
Photobook festivals and fairs are now such a fixture of the international photography scene that one could spend their whole year trekking to an event in a different country every week. In March this year, New Zealand, joined the circuit when it hosted the inaugural Photobook New Zealand festival from 11-13 March at Massey University, Wellington. The event was co-presented by a group of Photoforum NZ affiliates with Momento Pro sponsorship, and established and emerging photographers came out in droves, confirming that the production of photo books is alive and well in Aotearoa.
In addition to the Book Fair that was buzzing with people browsing, buying and trading books, the 200+ attended presentations by local photo book personalities Anita Totha of Remote Photobooks, Harvey Benge, Bruce Connew, Neil Pardington, Catherine Griffiths and Jonty Valentine. They offered advice on book design and distribution – two areas Antipodeans would be wise to focus on to stay on par with the international community. Ying Ang, creator of Gold Coast – winner of the New York Photo Festival Photographic Book prize 2014, and Daniel Boetker-Smith, founder of the Asia Pacific Photobook Archive also discussed the importance of connecting and collaborating with the international community as well as artists in the Asia Pacific region.