Nine Minutes with Cécile Schall, founder fotofever 2016
The fifth edition of the cutting-edge photography fair fotofever will take place at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris from the 11th – 13th November.
With over 75 different galleries coming from all around the world, most notably Europe and Japan, there will be nearly 90 artists exhibiting exciting and highly-contemporary works.
‘Les Themes’ by Muriel Bordier and ‘Burning Man’ by Eric Bouvet are just a couple of exciting photographic series that will be on display. Klaartje Lambrechts is also another great photographer that will feature this year at the fair.
Primarily fotofever paris 2016 is a fair with an educational mission through improved access to the diversity of contemporary photography, focusing on both newcomers and confirmed collectors. Their predominant focus is to encourage and educate young people on how to start collecting their own contemporary photographic works.
After Nyne's Editor Claire Meadows spent Nine Minutes with founder Cécile Schall ahead of the opening.
CM: Cécile, tell us about the guiding philosophy behind fotofever 2016
CS: I’ve always had a passion for photography, fed by my family’s history for many generations. 8 years ago, I bought my first photography artwork… it brought out so much emotion in me, I’ll never forget the day I saw it for the first time. Now living with it makes me feel good every day !
I founded fotofever to propagate the emotion I felt that day among all art lovers, and convince them that they can, too, start purchasing art.
I see contemporary photography as the most appropriate medium to begin buying and collecting art, as it is the most accessible aesthetically and financially.
fotofever stands out from the other fairs notably because it is the only one focused on encouraging and guiding new collectors. Our program ‘start to collect’ has been created specifically to offer new collectors a selection of quality artworks within an adequate price range (< 5 000€), as well as stories from more established collectors and the main rules about collecting photography, so that they can ‘safely’ let their heart fall for an artwork… and purchase it.
CM: In your opinion, how important are collectors to the work of rising creatives?
CS: As well as being an act of pleasure, collecting is a strong act of support for the contemporary artistic creation. Indeed, as Alain Servais, an established Belgian collector, likes to say: "the artist and the collector are the two faces of the same coin” – without collectors, living artists could not produce.
Buying a work puts in place a transaction that marks the moment that it is no longer the property of the artist, but that of the collector. This transaction enables the artist to buy their materials, pay for their studio, live as an artist, all that lays behind creating an artwork and the continuation of their profession.
CM: What makes fotofever different to any other art fair?
CS: fotofever is also the perfect hunting ground for confirmed collectors, wishing to discover tomorrow’s talents. Indeed, being an independent fair we proposes a bold programme, with 75 international and french galleries presenting over 200 emerging artists from all over the world.
CM: What are your own personal highlights of the fair?
CS: My own personal highlights for this year’s fair are difficult to pin down as the fotofever team have worked so hard on sourcing the most promising galleries.
However, we are particularly excited about seeing Sandro Giordano’s work, presented by our most loyal exhibitor, Art22 gallery. The artist was actually discovered on Instagram. There is something very captivating about his work, on the surface it makes you smile, laugh even, whilst underneath there is perhaps a universal anti-materialist message with a darker undertone.
We are also delighted to welcome Galerie Thierry Bigaignon, whose doors opened in Paris a year ago. It will present a solo show by Catherine Balet, who pays a vibrant homage to the great masters of photography by revisiting some of the most iconic images throughout history.
CM: What are your ambitions for the fotofever brand?
CS: Now in our 5th edition, my ambition is that fotofever keeps growing not only in size but also becoming a household name for those wanting to purchase contemporary photography.
The future of fotofever goes well beyond the fair, it is a brand that lives all year to promote collecting among all art lovers: through a new event that will launch in April 2017 in Paris ; an online magazine giving voice to collectors, gallerists and artists ; and the fotofever club, a programme of rendez-vous where all fotofever collectors, confirmed and novices, are invited to share their experience and make new discoveries.
