Alan Lo

The restaurateur, collector and leading figure in the Hong Kong art scene on who’s hot, what’s not, and why Singapore may soon be the next Asian art hotspot

LUX: You have been involved in the art world in Hong Kong for around 15 years. How has the scene changed there during this period?
Alan Lo: Hong Kong has become one of the most important art hubs in the world, on a par with London and New York. With Art Basel and M+, as well as local non-profits such as Asia Art Archive, Para Site and Design Trust, it is truly one of the best places to see art and buy art.

LUX: Are Hong Kong and China producing as many interesting new artists as 10 years ago?
AL: Things are a little complicated lately with social unrest followed by Covid, but I still see amazing new talent emerging. Hong Kong artist Ng Wing Lam is one of my latest acquisitions.

Untitled, 2020, by Arjan Martins, from the collection of Yenn and Alan Lo

LUX: Is there a move away from the “Western eye” in recognising artists from the region, or to be successful does an artist still need to be rated by collectors in the US and Europe?
AL: Contemporary art should be borderless. Think of artists Chris Huen Sin-kan and Wu Tsang, who show and are collected globally. As much as China and Asian collectors are on the rise, in the near term the US and Europe are still very influential, so it is important for artists to participate in projects with Western institutions.

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LUX: Which living artists internationally will be as remembered and sought after in 50 years time as the early 21st-century greats?
AL: Danh Vo, Mickalene Thomas, Shinro Ohtake, Rirkrit Tiravanija.

LUX: Hong Kong is highly digitised. How is digital art interacting with conventional art?
AL: Digital art is very now and Hong Kong is very much at the forefront. From digital art fairs to the level of interest in NFT art among collectors, new and established, these are signs of the significance of this new medium.

Singapore’s bay area by night

LUX: The art-market peak has been called many times over the past 10 years. Will it peak?
AL: Who knows!

LUX: Is there a new generation of collectors making the art market and new artists in their own way, and is that interesting for you?
AL: For sure. Especially in China, we see the emergence of the very young who are buying very well and very quickly. It is definitely a new phenomenon that is here to stay, I think.

LUX: Is the influence of Singapore in the art world likely to increase? Why has it not done so today?
AL: The collector base is quite small today, but with the influx of capital and talent into Singapore, the city state is already seeing change in the scene, and Art SG debuting in January 2023 will be a catalyst.

Bakk, 2022, by Cheikh Ndiaye, from the collection of Yenn and Alan Lo

LUX: Will what you do help stimulate a ground-up art movement in Singapore?
AL: I’m just an insignificant collector, but I do hope to see more artist- and curator-led spaces to make scene more interesting.

Read more: Adrian Cheng On Brands To Watch In 2023

LUX: In 10 years time, will collectors and enthusiasts visit Singapore for its art scene?
AL: There is the potential. Its ecosystem already has Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI) and National Gallery Singapore. I’d like to see more collector-driven and foundation spaces, as well as non-profits.

LUX: Name your five most interesting artists in the world right now.
AL: Oh de Laval, Wahab Saheed, Soimadou Ibrahim, Wu Tsang, Sarah Cunningham.

Find out more: @alanyeungkit

Ghetto Film School Roster brings together students and industry for a film competition screening and artist showcase of GFS alumni work, here at the Museum of the Moving Image, New York, 2017

The inaugural Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award at 2020’s Frieze Los Angeles recognizes ten young filmmakers who have been nurtured by Ghetto Film School. Maisie Skidmore meets the storytellers behind the camera

DEUTSCHE BANK WEALTH MANAGEMENT x LUX

More than a century has elapsed since Paramount Pictures was established in Hollywood in 1913. Since then, the studio lot has grown somewhat, from the original 26 acres to no fewer than 65 today. The scene itself has altered entirely, with thousands of movies and television shows coming to fruition on its hallowed grounds.

The studio’s iconic logo, on the other hand, remains almost entirely unchanged. The snow-topped mountain-scape studded with an arc of 22 stars is one of the protagonists in the rich movie history of Los Angeles. It’s woven into the very fabric of the place; the city has grown up around it, producing writers, artists, filmmakers and plenty more. So, what better place than Paramount Pictures Studios to house Frieze Los Angeles, when the international art fair opened its inaugural edition in the city in February 2019?

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Non-profit organization Ghetto Film School has taken a similar trajectory to that of Frieze, in that it has opened its own LA outpost in recent times. GFS, as it is known, was first founded as a small after-school program in the South Bronx by former social worker Joe Hall some 20 years ago, with a view to introducing narrative filmmaking to youth programs in New York, particularly in low-income areas. “Ghetto Film School was founded on the premise of providing a robust, long-lasting platform for a new generation of storytellers, bridging the gap between in-class curriculum and hands-on experience in the entertainment industry,” explains Sharese Bullock-Bailey, its chief strategy and partnership officer. GFS has evolved exponentially, educating, developing and celebrating the next generation of great American storytellers. Since 2017 it has opened a third outpost, in London.

Ghetto Film School students filming in South Africa

Founder and president of the GFS, Joe Hall

In view of the long history of the film industry in Los Angeles, the city provided a natural second home for the organization in 2017. The GFS has continued to forge a pathway into the film industry and beyond for its students ever since. “There is so much more to GFS outside of fostering behind-the-camera filmmakers,” Bullock-Bailey continues. “Our partners, who provide GFS students with immeasurable support, have been key at introducing them to other related avenues within the creative world. Outside of filmmaking, our graduates have gone on to become advertising producers, writers, studio executives, and set designers.”

Now, the next generation of Los Angeles’s filmmaking talent is set to receive a further boost. In the summer of 2019, Frieze and Deutsche Bank launched the inaugural edition of the Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award, a new competition created in collaboration with Ghetto Film School. Ten aspiring and emerging filmmakers were offered a unique platform and an intensive four-month development program through which to produce their own short films, inspired by LA’s artistic, social and cultural landscape. The winning filmmaker, who receives an award of $10,000 at a ceremony in the Paramount Theatre during Frieze Los Angeles, is chosen by a panel of leading figures in contemporary art and entertainment. The award is showcased at the Deutsche Bank Wealth Management Lounge at the art fair, and its launch coincides with the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Deutsche Bank Collection of art.

Read more: How Adrian Chen’s K11 MUSEA is changing Hong Kong’s cultural scene

Naturally, LA is a rich and fertile subject area for the students of the Fellows Program of the GFS to draw on. “The history of Los Angeles is built on the confluence of disparate visions for the city and its future, something that made the energy and community support at the first Frieze Los Angeles so palpable,” says Bettina Korek, the executive director of Frieze Los Angeles. “To be able to support these emerging local filmmakers in depicting our city’s current world, and showing how the medium of film has grown alongside it, is a privilege for us and our partners at the Paramount Theatre, Deutsche Bank and Ghetto Film School. I can’t wait to meet the Fellows and to see how they envision Los Angeles.” Thorsten Strauss, the Global Head of Art, Culture and Sports at Deutsche Bank, echoes her sentiment. “We are delighted to be working with Frieze and Ghetto Film School on this exciting new film award,” he says. “It’s a natural step in our ever-developing partnership with Frieze to start this project together and support emerging LA storytellers.”

Mya Dodson, a GFS alumna and below, Dodson at Film Independent’s GFS Shorts screening, LACMA in Los Angeles, 2016

The Fellows, whose own cultural heritage reaches far and wide, have turned to their respective experiences of the city for their films, and the breadth of their concepts reflects the extraordinary diversity inherent to LA. They looked to the recent plague of fires (in the case of Nabeer Khan), the ubiquity of smartphones (for Nicole Thompson), and the wrenching unease of a displacement from, and subsequent return to, their home (for Silvia Lara). In each case, poignantly, the school’s Fellows share a profound and at times all-consuming desire to tell their story. They also all seem to share a hope that, in so doing, they might carve out a space in which others are able to make their own voices heard too.

GFS’s alumni, who are now scattered throughout the film industry and beyond, are testament to the program’s effectiveness. “Ghetto Film School is more than a non-profit mission statement,” says Luis Servera, a writer and director who graduated from the program in 2004. “It is family.” Servera has been part of the organization for all of his adult life, he says, proudly witnessing and contributing to its rapid growth. “It’s a bit surreal, but not surprising at all. GFS is destined to be a significant and influential catalyst in all things media.”

The Deutsche Bank Wealth Management Lounge at Frieze Los Angeles, 2019.

How has Ghetto Film School seen such success? “They understand the power of storytelling and the power of the storyteller, no matter what their background is,” Servera continues. “They also realize that education and opportunities to those with limited access are essential to cultivate and nurture unseen talent.” What’s more, he continues, given the current climate in the industry, the work GFS is doing has the potential to reverberate for decades to come. “In a time when trending words such as ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ seem to be at the forefront of keynotes and boardroom meetings, I find it curious that a small non-profit organization that started in the South Bronx is the solution to a problem that a massive industry is having.”

Read more: Francis Alÿs receives Whitechapel Gallery’s Art Icon Prize 2020

To see the short films that have been months in the making viewed and judged at a Frieze art fair – one of the core events in the art world – will, of course, be of no small moment for the young filmmakers. The Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award marks the first milestone in each of these storytellers’ own narratives; where and when the next one will be, we will just have to wait and watch.

THE 10 SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES

ALIMA LEE
“After watching Sun Ra’s Space is the Place, I had a dream about a portal that looked like an empty doorway appearing in different parts of the city. The portal allowed black and indigenous people to escape to a planet where they could be safe. I revisited this concept in my short film, to explore a story line about how a girl comes across this portal and about why she intends to use it.”

DANIELLE BOYD
“I was inspired by Shirin Neshat’s fearless ability to convey her feelings about being exiled from her home. I was also inspired by the colorful cultures in LA, and how they create the city’s identity. I was going to Africa for the first time and began feeling this sudden vacancy about my African American identity. I began to see more clearly how the miseducation of African Americans can affect us and the way we interpret our own history, and ourselves.”

MICHELLE KIM
“The idea for my short emerged from this mental process of recognizing what moved me about LA and what felt significant. I reverted back to my childhood and the places I’ve grown up in, such as the car wash near my dad’s work, the liquor store in the strip mall. These sites are as sacred to me as they are banal to others, and the intention behind my short is based on visually sanctifying these places.”

NABEER KHAN
“I knew that I had to make my film about the recent Los Angeles fires. I asked myself how these fires were starting. That question, combined with my interest in psychology, led me to the concept for my film. I wanted to explore the power of grief and its progression to rage. In this film, I seek to apply this idea to our relationship with nature and the ongoing destruction of our Earth.”

NICOLE THOMPSON
“The concept for this film came to me while riding a train through the city and seeing so many people wrapped up in their phones. I decided to tell a story about when a young boy is forced to move to LA and stay at his grandparent’s house for the summer. He tries to convince his mom to not leave him there, but she has to travel for work. Left with no friends, Wi-Fi, or games he explores the house, discovers a magical book, and goes on an adventure traveling through different dimensions.”

NOAH SELLMAN
“I was watching surreal YouTube videos and saw in one of them an animated dreamscape made of Coke products. I started to wonder if that was possible. When I moved to LA, I was struck by the branding that covers the city. There is barely a blank surface anywhere. It was a lot for someone from a small town. Watching Shirin Neshat’s shorts, I realized the dreams could be abstract. Then I knew I had an idea.”

TIMOTHY OFFOR
“Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever was the first time I saw characters that I knew – not physically, but in character. I knew people just like them. I’ve dreamed of sharing my stories with the world ever since. The idea for my film originated during a debate with a friend about fear. We were discussing whether people are afraid of success or failure. Through that I developed a concept centered on dreams, fear and our willingness or unwillingness to overcome it.”

TORYN SEABROOKS
“I love comedy and there is nothing funnier to me than an uncomfortable situation. When you’re trying to impress a person, you do things outside of your character and find yourself in the middle of cringeworthy moments. I wanted to tell this story to point out a darker truth I’ve grown to understand about idolatry within Hollywood, and what we’re willing to do to be accepted and seen by the people we admire.”

SILVIA LARA
“I’ve always wanted to see my city, Whittier in LA, portrayed the way I feel it deserves to be seen. I had lived elsewhere before but didn’t realize just how special it was until I up and moved across the country to New York and then returned. It contrasted so much that it made me appreciate aspects of this quiet suburb on the edge of LA. And it’s not as quiet as it seems.”

MYA DODSON
“The concept for my film came to me in a vision while visiting family in Korea earlier this year. My sister had recently encouraged me to ‘move in love, not in fear’ – a motto that set the tone for my entire year. I was listening to frequencies when an affirmation came over me, and thus, Cosmic Affirmation was born. I saw the film as a representation of how I’m overcoming fear in love.”

THE JURY

Doug Aitken, contemporary LA-based artist
Claudio de Sanctis, Global Head of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management
Shari Frilot, Chief Curator, New Frontier at Sundance Film Festival
Jeremy Kagan, director, writer, producer and professor
Bettina Korek, Director of Frieze Los Angeles
Thorsten Strauss, Global Head of Deutsche Bank Art, Culture & Sports
Sam Taylor-Johnson, artist and film director
Hamza Walker, Director of LAXart

Find out more: ghettofilm.org

This article was originally published in the Spring Issue 2020.

Bethany Williams is one of the emerging designers stocked at concept store, 50m in Belgravia

With a gimlet eye for the latest and newest, LUX’s Cool Hunter and Digital Editor Millie Walton reveals what is grabbing her attention this season

50m

Experimental isn’t a term one associates with London’s upmarket Belgravia, but that’s where you’ll find the new concept store 50m (so-called after the 50 metres of clothes rail that runs along the inside walls). Created by artist collective Something & Son to support new design talent and tackle high shop rents, the store functions as a space for emerging designers to showcase and sell their work at a more affordable cost. The designers also receive mentorship from leading figures in the industry. Paul Smyth, co-founder of Something & Son, says its aim is to “create a store where people don’t simply consume stuff, but can meet designers, hang out with friends, cooperate and collaborate”. Find the likes of menswear designer Bethany Williams and jewellery studio RÄTHEL & WOLF.

50-m.com

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Comic-strip meets pop-art graffiti by Lithuanian artist and illustrator Egle Zvirblyte

Egle Zvirblyte

Lithuanian artist and illustrator Egle Zvirblyte describes her work as a “bright, juicy, punch-yourface explosion with existential undertones”. The aesthetic is comic-strip meets pop-art graffiti, bursting with colour, humour and movement. Look through the artist’s portfolio and you’ll see the same characters often reoccur as if it’s all one big story with the next chapter spontaneously popping up in unusual places. Earlier this year, Egle created six huge installation works for Inis Oírr (a small island off Ireland’s west coast) as part of the Drop Everything annual contemporary cultural biennale, and she’s currently planning “a collaborative wall in London” with typographer Oli Frape. Keep your eyes peeled for larger-than-life, eccentric-looking characters dressed in 1980s fashion, cigarette-smoking tigers and bananas in shades and high heels. It will be hard to miss.

eglezvirblyte.com

Petra Lilja Design Studio specialises in concept design

Petra Lilja Design Studio

The Swedish studio led by designer Petra Lilja specialises in concept design, curatorial work and exhibition design, with a strong focus on sustainability. For a recent project around the themes of ‘utopia’ and ‘dystopia’, Petra sourced material while ‘plogging’ (walking or jogging and picking up plastic rubbish). “It’s amazing how little we value a material that takes thousands of years to disintegrate,” commented the designer. The studio often collaborates with other designers to create intriguing objects such as the Rephrasals project with Aalto+Aalto, which explored the possibilities and expressions found through a method of associations and chance.

petralilja.com

Alternative fashion photographs from “Posturing”

Read more: Art auctioneer Simon de Pury on modern philanthropy

Posturing

Posturing is a fashion photography book with a twist – or several. Dreamt up by fashion curator Shonagh Marshall and Wallpaper* photo editor Holly Hay, it celebrates the body as a sculpture in contemporary fashion photography. The images are aesthetically intriguing, with a focus on the shapes created by limbs rather than the garments the models wear, and are accompanied by a series of interviews discussing the current state of the fashion industry. “I noticed a shift in the way contemporary fashion photographers were positioning the body,” says Shonagh. “There was a move away from the glamourised, sexualised body of the celebrity-driven 2000s.” Welcome a new age of perception.

shop.selfpublishbehappy.com/product/posturing

Annie Hockeysmith is sometimes described as ‘Kylie Minogue on acid’

Hockeysmith

Hockeysmith’s music is the very definition of heady: a blend of woozy electronic beats, unorthodox rhythms and smudgy vocals. Based in Cornwall, Hockeysmith (AKA Annie Hockeysmith) takes inspiration from the arcane landscapes, occult folklore and local rave scene to create a breed of darkly textured electronic pop that’s impossible not to dance to. You feel like you’re throwing yourself across a strobing dance floor even if you’re lying on your bed at home. Sound frightening? It is a little, but it’s also a lot of fun – and has been described as ‘Kylie Minogue on acid’. I’m currently obsessed with the track Go Baack.

facebook.com/hockeysmithband

This article originally appeared in The Beauty Issue, to see more content click here.

LVMH’s Delphine Arnault with Karl Lagerfeld at the LVMH Prize 2018 cocktail reception ©François GOIZE

The LVMH prize is the most prestigious and desirable award for any emerging designer. Lauren Cochrane reports from Paris on the mix of established and new and the ideas bubbling around a competition aimed at discovering the next John Galliano or Alexander McQueen

This spring, as Paris Fashion Week swirled around them, some of the industry’s highest profile names – JW Anderson, Nicolas Ghesquière, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Bella Hadid, Suzy Menkes and Karl Lagerfeld included – found a moment in their busy diaries. The reason? The shortlisting of the LVMH Prize. Over two days, with LVMH’s Delphine Arnault, fashion’s brightest and best whittled a shortlist of 20 semi-finalists down to just nine. After an additional round of judging, the final winner is announced in June.

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In the four short years since its launch, the LVMH Prize has become the most prestigious in fashion. Each winner is given a grant of 300,000 euros and access to mentoring from LVMH experts to develop their business. Winners so far have included minimalist Thomas Tait and Grace Wales Bonner, the visionary of London’s menswear scene. Simon Porte Jacquemus, a designer mooted for the top job at Lanvin, was a special prize winner in 2015. Marine Serre, 2017’s winner, has already caused a stir. After her debut show in March, the New York Times said she had come “far, fast”, while Vogue called her collection “terrific”.

Designer Snow Xue Gao with model ©François GOIZE

Of course, fashion insiders will take note of anything that comes with the LVMH name attached. With Bernard Arnault at the head, it is the biggest luxury group in the world, taking in a record 42.6 billion euros in 2017 across brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy. The impact of LVMH’s endorsement and mentoring (not to mention that cash injection) on a young designer’s career cannot be underestimated. Serre, speaking to Vogue, said what the win meant: “It was possible for us to really take things to a whole new level”, allowing her to hire new staff and expand into a new studio space. Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida echo this. “We suddenly had the exposure, the support and the funding to put into existence a lot of the things we always wanted to do, and grow the company,” they said in an email. “This is what the foundations of our label is built on and what the company is today.” Winning the LVMH Prize can turn a fledgling operation into a bona fide brand.

Read more: We ask artist Mouna Rebeiz about trash and beauty

Jean-Paul Claverie, advisor to Bernard Arnault, was instrumental in setting up the Prize in 2014 and he sits on the jury. The Director of Corporate Sponsorship at LVMH, he describes the prize as a way for “young designers to value creativity first”. LVMH are committed to that pledge. Designers are only eligible if they have shown two collections or fewer, and there is an in-house team that works specifically on the prize, selecting the final 20 designers who go before the jury. Relationships continue beyond the competition process, too. “We stay in touch with many of the winners and we are ready to help if they have a problem,” says Claverie. “The door is always open.”

Menswear designer Charles Jeffrey ©François GOIZE

Each year the number of applications has grown, with 1,300 in 2018, including designers from South Korea, China and countries in Africa. Among the 20 semi-finalists there was A Cold Wall, the London-based label by Samuel Ross, New York’s Eckhaus Latta, who put a pregnant woman on their catwalk in September, Charles Jeffrey’s artistic take on menswear and five gender-neutral labels including Faustine Steinmetz, GMBH and The Sirius. Of these, Ross, Jeffrey and Eckhaus Latta made it into the final nine, alongside Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh of Botter, Masayuki Ino of Doublet, Lea Dickely and Hung La of Kwaidan Editions, Rok Hwang of Rokh, Matthew Adams Dolan, and Ludovic de Saint Sernin.

Model Emily Ratajkowski at the LVMH Prize 2018 cocktail reception ©Virgile_Guinard

Delphine Arnault (right)
with Carine Roitfeld ©François GOIZE

Established figures in fashion always enjoy meeting the next generation. Jury member Sidney Toledano, chairman and CEO of the Fashion Group at LVMH, says that he was excited after listening to the designers’ presentations. “I was so amazed by the energy,” he says. “I felt it myself, and it was after a long day of shows. I saw how excited Karl [Lagerfeld] was. His antenna tells him they’re talented. I think he had fun.”

Of course, the Prize is not without its advantages for LVMH. It means they effectively have first dibs on the next generation of talent. Toledano believes this has been at the heart of the LVMH culture since Arnault became the majority share holder in 1989. “It’s something he repeats daily – he wants creativity and quality, with an evolution.”

Read more: The maker of Masseto hosts a private dinner for LUX readers

It’s clear the winner is chosen carefully, and with much debate. “At the start of the process, we think that one applicant will be the winner and then, later, it turns out to be someone else entirely,” says Claverie. “I love discussion,” adds Toledano. “I hope we have two or three potential winners and we don’t know what to do.”

Claverie says that business acumen is a plus, along with determination – he praises Jacquemus for applying again after his first unsuccessful attempt. Ultimately, it is vision that characterises a winner: “The creativity is first… they are expressing something new.” Toledano says this is a quest for the next names to know. “It is not a philanthropic project,” he explains. “All the brands we have are based on the success of a designer. It was Monsieur Dior as a designer who created the magic of the Dior name.” Toledano compares designers to pilots. “An engine is needed to sustain a big name,” he says. “OK, from time to time, if you stop the engine, the plane is so high you can continue flying, but if you are a top brand you need [someone] in the cockpit, providing the momentum.” The LVMH Prize? The most stylish take on aviation college there is. Time to watch the latest graduates take flight.

To meet this year’s finalists, and for further announcements visit lvmhprize.com

This article appears in the Summer 2018 issue of LUX, on sale now worldwide.

Fotofever Paris is a friendly kind of art fair. It welcomes newcomers, whether or not their pockets are deep, and favours fresh faced talent. Ahead of the fair’s fifth edition, held under the majestic roof of the Carrousel du Louvre, Millie Walton speaks to the founder and director, Cécile Schall about the emotional impact of artwork, how digital apps have affected photography and the next generation of collectors.

Cécile Schall. Image by Paola Guigou

Millie Walton: What inspired you to start fotofever?
Cécile Schall: My passion for photography is something that’s always been with me, fed by my family’s attachment to this art form for many generations. I founded fotofever 5 years ago, driven by the feeling I had when I purchased my first ever artwork 8 years ago; the emotion took over me and I knew I had to have that work. I found a way, through instalments, so that I could have it in my home and enjoy it every day. I now want to show other art lovers, that it’s possible to become a collector and also demonstrate why it is important to collect, which will support artists and to allow great artistic creation to continue.

MW: How do you compete against more established and larger art fairs?
CS: fotofever stands out from the other fairs firstly 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 a price range attainable for new collectors ( less than 5,000 Euros). It will also offer more established collectors some guidelines and the basic principles about collecting photography, so that they can ‘safely’ let their heart fall for an artwork and purchase it.

Fumikazu Ishino ‘A Caramel Tooth Filling’. Courtesy Einstein Studio

Read next: Six of the tastiest places to dine in Stockholm

I see photography as the most appropriate medium to begin buying and collecting contemporary art. It’s the most accessible aesthetically and financially. Today, however, unfortunately we see that most people who have the financial means to collect, hesitate to take that first step. Often this is because the art world is intimidating to novices.

Fotofever is the perfect hunting ground for confirmed collectors who seek to discover the artists of tomorrow – our independence allows us to present galleries with a bold program. Highlights of this year’s fair include the new zig-zag scenography, The Collector’s Apartment and organised discussions between artists, collectors and gallerists.

‘Burning Man’ 2012 by Eric Bouvet, Courtesy Galerie Hegoa

MW: What advice would you give to someone looking to start a collection?
CS: To start a collection, you first have to realise that you don’t need to be wealthy or an art expert to buy your first piece of art. There is no set age to begin a collection, nor one to stop.

As a starting point, look for a theme that speaks to you, that is close to your heart, a passion. The theme is sometimes unconscious and may reveal itself to you well after the purchase of the first work…

Go to a gallery that you feel comfortable with, one where you imagine trust can be established. Perhaps that represents an artist who you’re already aware of.

Read next: In conversation with Frieze art fair’s co-founder, Matthew Slotover

Follow your heart and wait for the right moment. When you come across a good work, you’ll know. It will be like a light bulb has been switched on inside your head.

Despite this wave of emotion, keep your feet on the ground and start “small” when it comes to price and do not hesitate to ask the gallery if you can pay in monthly instalments as many are open to this.

Hugh Arnold. ‘Series Agua Nacida’. Courtesy Hilton Asmus Foto

MW:How do you think the art market has changed in recent years?
CS: The art market has evolved a great deal over the last decade, especially with the development of online galleries, or physical galleries that sell online. This has broken down a lot of galleries and encouraged more transparency with pricing, something that we agree with at fotofever is displaying the price as one of the exhibitor requirements.

MW: Are there any particular themes or trends that you can see emerging in photography?
CS: Each year fotofever gives birth to new collectors thanks to an eclectic selection of several hundred works presented by galleries from around the world. If it were not for these galleries and their expanding horizons, then this would not be able to happen. As a forward-looking photography art fair we are open to all new types of photography and its artists. Technology is moving fast and many of the galleries at fotofever mirror this, whether it’s the discovery of artists on Instagram or tricky aerial photography.

Antoine Rose. ‘Spiagge Bianche Study 2 Serie Tuscany 2015’. Courtesy Xin Art Galerie

Read next: Investment advice from international entrepreneur Javad Marandi

Millie Walton: How do you think digital apps like Instagram, have impacted the world of photography?<>
Cécile Schall: We live in an image-saturated world. Everyone carries some type of camera on them and are encourage to use it, to document, to share, sometimes to show-off! There is a generation that have grown up surrounded by photography. One of the focuses of fotofever is to educate the younger generation about photography as an art form, rather than a lifestyle accessory.

One of the main challenges we see when it comes to contemporary photography is its reproducibility, as opposed to the uniqueness of a painting or a sculpture. Photographers are creating more and more unique works to make them stand out not only visually but creatively too.

Edouard Taufenbach. Cinema 1p Serie Cinema. Courtesy Galerie Gratadou Intuiti

This challenge is to do with the apparent simplicity of the photography practice, in a world where everyone with a smart phone considers themselves a photographer. It can give photography the status of a simple reproduction technique, when the creative process of some artists is very complex and part of the uniqueness of their work – such as Catherine Balet who worked full-time over 3 years to create her series Looking For The Masters in Ricardo’s Golden Shoes, or Antoine Rose who rides an helicopter over seaside resorts to take perfectly vertical shots.

For children ‘Les p’tits collectionneurs’ (the little collectors) is a 25m2 area at the heart of the fair that we’ve created in order to host fun and free educational workshops for children aged 6-12 years old. We want to show to children the entire creative process behind a photographic work by allowing them to take on the role of model, photographer and graphic designer.

The 18-35 generation also buy a lot online and social media has become influential in their decisions. Although we think that the physical encounter with an artwork is essential, the internet is an amazing information tool. We have been working on our web site to present all the artists that have been exhibited by the 300 galleries at fotofever since 2011. Our idea is to turn this site into a catalogue so that it acts as the fair’s continuum to support these partnerships.

Keren Bereshit. 3 Bereshit 2002. Courtesy Lelia Mordoch

MW: In your view, what makes a good photograph?
CS: It’s unexplainable, judging whether an image is a good photograph is something that comes from experience but also from deep emotions. It’s completely subjective and that’s what makes walking around a photography fair such an interesting experience, to be able to see so many versions of a photograph as a work of art.

Read next: Art is the greatest legacy, says auctioneer Simon de Pury

MW: Which participating galleries are you most excited about this year?
CS: Throughout the year preparing the fair, the fotofever team has looked for the most promising, local and international galleries sharing its commitment to emerging contemporary artists using photography as a medium, so we are looking forward to seeing all the projects to be presented in real at the fair.

We are excited for all our exhibitors for different reasons, some because they have come so far (Asia for example), others because they are new, some because they’ve been with us from the beginning. They all add to the eclectic mix, but they all have fresh approaches to photography that you won’t see at other fairs.

fotofever paris 2016, runs from 11th to 13th November at the Carrousel du Louvre