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New Show!

 




 

16.03.2024 – 25.04.2024 

Dummy Award 24
The Shortlist

 

The Dummy Award is the international competition for unpublished photo books and is now in its second year organised by the PhotoBookMuseum. In THE BOX, we are now showing the 2024 shortlist: an international jury has selected 51 favourites from the 420 entries from 44 countries, which we will present in our "Reading Room".

Visitors can expect an exciting mix of unpublished photo books - fresh and unfiltered! Voting is also encouraged, because as always, the winning book will be determined via a public vote and will then be printed.

As special guests we will be showing the winners and the shortlist of the Hong Kong Dummy Awards 2023.

Have a look!

more...

Opening: 22.03.23 from 19:00

24h Reading Room: 
20.04 12:00 – 21.04 12:00
- open all night! 

 

THE BOX  
Körnerstraße 6–8
Cologne - Ehrenfeld 

Open:
Thursday: 16:00–22:00
Saturday: 12:00–16:00
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Click here for THE BOX program

 




Save the Date!

 






STUDIO COLOGNE

Portraits from Cologne Photo Studios 1861-1928

24 May to 23 June 2024
on Körnerstraße

 

STUDIO COLOGNE: The Museum goes street!

Through an innovative street-exhibition Körnerstraße in Cologne-Ehrenfeld will be transformed into a walk-in outdoor and indoor exhibition. An 800-metre-long parcours full of discoveries will be created, bringing historical portraits from Cologne's photo studios to new life.

For all! For free! For one month!

Stay tuned!



Photoatelier BLUM & HÖFFERT, 1908-1918, Hohe Str. 111a


Favourite Photobooks 2023

This year, we were particularly impressed by three photobooks from the center of Europe. Here is our "Directors' Choice - Our Favourite Photobooks of the Year"!

Werner Amman / Kein Morgen
Tomasz Tomaszewski / The World Is Where You Stop
Claudio Pogo / BILD

Have a look!

 
Museum goes Club

Japanese Photobooks from the Collection

TOKYO EXPRESS was a POP-UP show with photo books from and about the metropolis Tokyo. The Club Nachtigall in Cologne's bustling quarter Ehrenfeld was transformed into a Japanese bar.
 
Tiny and yet full of stories are the bars in "Golden Gai," a collection of small alleys and old houses in the nightlife district of Shinjuku. These condensed hotspots are often reserved for certain (professional) groups. This is also the case with the "Kodoji" bar, which has become a legendary meeting place for Japanese photographers, combining exhibition space, library and pub in a few square meters in a wild mixture that appeals to all the senses. Today, the photo books by Onaka Koji, Keizo Kitajima, Daido Moriyama, Hiromix, Mika Ninagawa,Takashi Homma and Nobuyoshi Araki have international cult status - as does the legendary "Golden Gai" bar.
 
With its authentic setting TOKYO EXPRESS was a temporary reminiscence of all the "stories & pictures" that that place has inspired: from obscure darkroom experiments to longing black-and-white scenes in the street canyons of Shinjuku to the candy look of an entire city and its selfie girls to the "Tokyo Innocense", a Japanese garish gender carnival.
 
Sake drinking "Tokyo Style" was included as well as "Guided Tours" with PhotoBookMuseum director Markus Schaden, exciting "Movie Nights" (about Daido Moriyama among others) , "DJ Sets" with DJ Tobby-Lolli and "Sofa Talks" with Koji Onaka.
 

A big thank you to the Nachtigall Team and all the many vistors that joined us on that wonderful TOKYO EXPRESS experience. 

Click here for the TOKYO EXPRESS program

 

Photo: Koji Onaka from memories of younger days in Shinjuku, Tokyo 2018

Recommended reading

»I am shocked.«

The Reception of Photobooks.

What would photobooks be without their critical audience? Not much!
The articles in the new issue 35/21 of PhotoResearcher published by the European Society for the History of Photography show exactly that.


In seven case studies, authors examine the relationship between photobooks and their recipients. The selected books are remarkable examples of the history of photography. They have shocked, crossed social boundaries and opened the eyes of entire generations to social and political matters. The issue gives unexpected, fascinating insights into the reception history of well-known photobooks and allows its readers to follow up on how the books and social discourses influence one another.

Click here for PhotoResearcher

 

 

Photo: Michael Schmidt, Spread from Waffenruhe, Berlin 1987

New Release

Photobooks for everyone!


“The Photobook in Art and Society”
Participative Potentials of a Medium

Photography has been undergoing a paradigm shift since the turn of the millennium. The fine art print has been increasingly replaced, making way for the photobook which is experiencing a certain boom. However, it remains to be seen if the medium finds its way out of the ivory tower of the elitist photography scene. Is the photobook capable of establishing a visible literature that is accessible and understandable for everyone?

The PhotoBookMuseum and the Montag Foundation for Art and Society have tackled this question in a collaborative mobile project. Under the motto "World in Transition", the participatory qualities of photo books have been examined on the basis of new communication concepts. In the recent publication, professionals from the fields of science, art practice and culture institutions impressively unveil the social relevance of the medium. The Reader demonstrates how photobooks nowadays, act as a structuring force against the immanent flood of images.

 

PBM tempweb
“The Photobook in Art and Society”
Participative Potentials of a Medium

Montag Stiftung Kunst und Gesellschaft (Ed.)
in cooperation with The PhotoBookMuseum

Swiss brochure binding
16,7 x 24 cm
468 pages, 220 col. und b/w images.
English
Jovis Verlag, 2020
ISBN 978-3-86859-594-9; € 42,80

reading extract

Photo: Sarah Larissa Heuser
About

The PhotoBookMuseum


„The photobook is one of the most important mediums in our culture.“
Manfred Heiting, Photobook Collector, Los Angeles


The PhotoBookMuseum was founded in Cologne in 2014 as a non-profit organisation that aims to foster the photobook as a significant photographic medium. It serves as a public platform for collections, exhibitions and events and is committed to research and education on contemporary photobook culture. As a museum of the twenty-first century it offers an inclusive environment for active involvement with the arts to a diverse audience.

Acting as a mobile museum, it uses innovative exhibition strategies and hosts international curatorial co-operations far away from the mainstream of traditional museums. So far, the PhotoBookMuseum is the only museum in the world that is exclusively dedicated to the medium of photobooks, focusing on its democratic potential.

  • Carlswerk Prototype / Köln / 2014 / Foto: Daniel Zakharov
  • Carlswerk Prototype / Köln / 2014 / Foto: Dieter Röseler
  • Carlswerk Prototype / Köln / 2014 / Foto: Daniel Zakharov
  • Carlswerk Prototype / Köln / 2014 / Foto: Daniel Zakharov
  • Carlswerk Prototype / Köln / 2014 / Foto: Wolfgang Zurborn
  • Carlswerk Prototype / Köln / 2014 / Foto: Daniel Zakharov
  • TRACK-22 / Krakau / 2015 / Foto: Frederic Lezmi
  • TRACK-22 / Krakau / 2015 / Foto: Frederic Lezmi
  • Cargo to Oslo / Oslo / 2015 / Foto: Frederic Lezmi
  • Cargo to Oslo / Oslo / 2015 / Foto: Frederic Lezmi
  • PhotoBookStudy: Reading New York / Barcelona / 2017 / Foto: Frederic Lezmi
  • PhotoBookStudy: Reading New York / Barcelona / 2017 / Foto: Frederic Lezmi
  • Welt im Umbruch / Rostock-Duisburg-Kassel / 2016-2018 / Foto: Eisenhardt Keimeyer
  • Welt im Umbruch / Rostock-Duisburg-Kassel / 2016-2018 / Foto:Marvin Ibo Güngör
  • Welt im Umbruch / Rostock-Duisburg-Kassel / 2016-2018 / Foto:Marvin Ibo Güngör
  • Welt im Umbruch / Rostock-Duisburg-Kassel / 2016-2018 / Foto:Marvin Ibo Güngör
  • Welt im Umbruch / Rostock-Duisburg-Kassel / 2016-2018 / Foto: Thekla Ehling
  • Welt im Umbruch / Rostock-Duisburg-Kassel / 2016-2018 / Foto: Sarah Larissa Heuser
  • Nobody’s Library - Stephen Gill’s Photobooks / Braunschweig / 2018 / Foto: Frederic Lezmi
  • Nobody’s Library - Stephen Gill’s Photobooks / Braunschweig / 2018 / Foto: Frederic Lezmi
  • Nobody’s Library - Stephen Gill’s Photobooks / Braunschweig / 2018 / Foto: Frederic Lezmi
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: DAVID KLAMMER
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: FREDERIC LEZMI
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: DAVID KLAMMER
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: DAVID KLAMMER
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: DAVID KLAMMER
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: MARVIN IBO GÜNGÖR
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: MARVIN IBO GÜNGÖR
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: MARVIN IBO GÜNGÖR
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: MARVIN IBO GÜNGÖR
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: MARVIN IBO GÜNGÖR
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: MARVIN IBO GÜNGÖR
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: MARVIN IBO GÜNGÖR
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: FREDERIC LEZMI
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: FREDERIKE FINSTER
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: FREDERIKE FINSTER
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: FREDERIC LEZMI
  • DAS CHARGESHEIMER PROJEKT / KÖLN / 2018-2020 / FOTO: FREDERIC LEZMI
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