Every year, LA becomes even more of an international destination for art. This weekend marks the second year of Paris PhotO Los Angeles, the California iteration of the fair started in France in 1996 which brings together leading photography galleries from around the world.
Whereas the Paris edition of the fair is held in the historic Grand Palais, the LA version has chosen a space emblematic of its city's own history: Paramount Studios' New York street backlot. The collection of sets mimics the look and feel of eight different NYC locations, including Soho, the Lower East Side, and the Financial District. "It's this crazy feeling of being between fiction and reality," said Julien Frydman, the director of Paris Photo. "[That] has a lot to do with photography."
I was able to sit down with Frydman to get the inside scoop of what's in store for the fair's second outing in Los Angeles.
Mark Saldana: Can you tell me a little bit about Paris Photo?
Julien Frydman: Paris Photo is an art fair that's existed for 17 years. [This year] it's going to be 18 years in Paris and the second year in Los Angeles. We've gathered galleries from all around the world. It's very well-attended; there are a number of collectors from around the world [who] come to Paris and now to Los Angeles for the spring version of the fair.
In Paris, it's held at the Grand Palais which is the number one place in Paris for the arts. And so we wanted to have a second venue. We were lucky enough to come to an agreement with Paramount Pictures Studios and create this very unique event where you can look at works of art, buy works of art, but you can also enjoy your day in this incredible environment. We use the fake streets of New York, which is called the New York Street Backlot. We also use the studios where we include some of the galleries and some of those sets. So you know, you can enjoy your day in Los Angeles but in New York streets.
One exhibit in this year's show that really caught my eye was the LAPD photo archive, especially since I'm from Los Angeles. Can you tell me a little more about that collection of photos?
Well, I think that one of the things that we tried to do [with the fair] is give the public an introduction to different ways of looking at photography. There's a notion that certain types of photography are made for certain contexts. When you talk about LAPD photographs, they're forensic [evidence] or information to help someone work a case. But you can also look at them aesthetically, and you end up finding some great pictures in the archive.
So, we wanted the audience to have a chance to see the transformation of a document into an amazing and strong and beautiful picture. That's first.
Second, is that those pictures also give you an amazing or, I would say, a strange feeling. Because we know some of those atmospheres or some of those feelings, and we have those images in our head that already exist. But normally they are fake; they are images from the movies. And the photos from the LAPD Photo Archive are the real ones. When you look at them, you just don't know if they were from movies or if they are real. And it's a very, very strange feeling that shows you the power of images.
Definitely. So, who put this whole archive together?
It's two people who, ten years ago, were able to help LAPD protect those archives and take care of them and edit them. They made a show a long time ago, and were taking care of the print. I asked if I could look at some of the other images, mainly looking for a less obvious picture, and I curated the show from there.
Is there anything else we should expect when going to
Whereas the Paris edition of the fair is held in the historic Grand Palais, the LA version has chosen a space emblematic of its city's own history: Paramount Studios' New York street backlot. The collection of sets mimics the look and feel of eight different NYC locations, including Soho, the Lower East Side, and the Financial District. "It's this crazy feeling of being between fiction and reality," said Julien Frydman, the director of Paris Photo. "[That] has a lot to do with photography."
I was able to sit down with Frydman to get the inside scoop of what's in store for the fair's second outing in Los Angeles.
Mark Saldana: Can you tell me a little bit about Paris Photo?
Julien Frydman: Paris Photo is an art fair that's existed for 17 years. [This year] it's going to be 18 years in Paris and the second year in Los Angeles. We've gathered galleries from all around the world. It's very well-attended; there are a number of collectors from around the world [who] come to Paris and now to Los Angeles for the spring version of the fair.
In Paris, it's held at the Grand Palais which is the number one place in Paris for the arts. And so we wanted to have a second venue. We were lucky enough to come to an agreement with Paramount Pictures Studios and create this very unique event where you can look at works of art, buy works of art, but you can also enjoy your day in this incredible environment. We use the fake streets of New York, which is called the New York Street Backlot. We also use the studios where we include some of the galleries and some of those sets. So you know, you can enjoy your day in Los Angeles but in New York streets.
One exhibit in this year's show that really caught my eye was the LAPD photo archive, especially since I'm from Los Angeles. Can you tell me a little more about that collection of photos?
Well, I think that one of the things that we tried to do [with the fair] is give the public an introduction to different ways of looking at photography. There's a notion that certain types of photography are made for certain contexts. When you talk about LAPD photographs, they're forensic [evidence] or information to help someone work a case. But you can also look at them aesthetically, and you end up finding some great pictures in the archive.
So, we wanted the audience to have a chance to see the transformation of a document into an amazing and strong and beautiful picture. That's first.
Second, is that those pictures also give you an amazing or, I would say, a strange feeling. Because we know some of those atmospheres or some of those feelings, and we have those images in our head that already exist. But normally they are fake; they are images from the movies. And the photos from the LAPD Photo Archive are the real ones. When you look at them, you just don't know if they were from movies or if they are real. And it's a very, very strange feeling that shows you the power of images.
Definitely. So, who put this whole archive together?
It's two people who, ten years ago, were able to help LAPD protect those archives and take care of them and edit them. They made a show a long time ago, and were taking care of the print. I asked if I could look at some of the other images, mainly looking for a less obvious picture, and I curated the show from there.
Is there anything else we should expect when going to