Among the 90 candidates for the position of leadership the most exciting in the world of the photo, it is him, Christoph Wiesner, who has been chosen. And it is a very good thing. It is usual to look upon it with extreme caution each photograph is exposed, and sometimes, to keep it’s memory, take a snapshot of these images. If they approach him to ask him his opinion, he always responds with an equally extreme courtesy. This great specialist is co-director with Florence Bourgeois of Paris Photo for the past five years, and has particularly developed in several sectors, with a view to the fair, including Prisms or Curiosa (where are shown the works “special” or secret). Wiesner is a German born in 1965, but is as French as his parents settled in France when he was a child. This dual membership has allowed him to train as a director in Berlin in the galleries Schipper & Krome and then back to France where he held the position of senior director in the gallery of Yvon Lambert. When the famous parisian gallery announced its closing, Christoph Wiesner has not had the desire to create his own, but on the contrary to continue to work in a team for a project. And when, in 2015, Jean-Daniel Compain, director of Reed exhibitions, has offered to co-lead Paris Photo (the biggest event in the photographic world) and Paris Photo Los Angeles with Florence Bourgeois, he did not hesitate. The tandem has won his bet.
Great moments
As Arles, for his famous matches, including The Point is a partner for more than ten years, has been chosen to succeed Sam Stourdzé, who will take over as director of the Villa Medici in the autumn, is a great new for this festival, which is one of the most important, and not only in the middle of the culture, but also for tourism, the attraction of the region. Sam Stourdzé can take pride in its balance sheet, last year more than 145 000 visitors (4 % increase compared to 2018) came not only to see the 51 exhibitions of Arles, but also those that the director had chosen to co-produce, Nimes, Marseille, Avignon…
After years of heroic and historic of the creation of the festival by Lucien Clergue, Michel Tournier and Jean-Maurice Rouquette, the festival that celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last July, Arles has lived great moments, passionate, chaotic, unique. The last directors François Hébel and Sam Stourdzé (since 2014) have made this meeting a place and a special time in attracting artists from around the world and opening ever more widely the photograph to the public, which is not at all surprised to Arles to rub shoulders with the stars of this world during visits. Christoph Wiesner who, in addition to his mastery of the history of photography, knows all the players in this middle planetary, is very appreciated by the artists, which is very close. A man who knows how to relieve tension.
