The book Talking about Photobooks draws on the experiences and learnings of Photobook Week Aarhus, a small festival dedicated for the last ten years to the photographic book as a medium of artistic production. The contributions are based on artist talks, panels, keynote speeches and presentations in the framework of the festival, edited and revisited to reflect the main aspects of the photobook. The brand-new book with contributions by some of the leading experts in the field was published by Photobook Week Aarhus in collaboration with Fw:Books (Amsterdam). It was edited by Moritz Neumüller, together with Beate Cegielska, Jesper Rasmussen, and Anne Elisabeth Toft, with a superb design by Hans Gremmen and Kuan-Ting Chen.
Conclusion and Outlook: thoughts on the future of the photobook
The next decade will witness the continued relevance of photobooks as a favoured type
of media for practitioners (not limited to photographers) within the global photography ecosystem. While there have been attempts to integrate photobooks with virtual image-making, the intrinsic limitations of the book format will likely keep the form and narrative structures of pho- tobooks relatively unchanged in the foreseeable future. Advancements in digital technology may nevertheless improve the interactive features of photobooks by combin- ing traditional and modern elements.
Challenges in the photobook world will stem from varying political, economic, and publishing environments across different regions. In some areas, there may be a declining interest in photobooks. Conversely, in other regions, photobooks will continue to thrive with the support of art schools, festivals, and other related organ- isations. An exciting opportunity lies in the potential for greater cross-cultural exchanges and artistic collabora- tions as the photobook landscape becomes less centered on Western culture. This diversification will enrich the field, bringing new perspectives and voices to the forefront.
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