Help make Photobook/NZ a success

HELP MAKE Photobook/NZ A SUCCESS!

WHO WE ARE

We’re Aotearoa’s national Photobook Festival. Held every two years at Te Papa we bring together book makers, publishers and a wide range of people who love the medium. The Festival showcases the work of artists and provides opportunities to sell work, network, and learn from outstanding practitioners and exhibitions.

OUR FESTIVAL

From August 8 – 11 Photobook/NZ will showcase:

• exceptional photobook makers such as Morganna Magee (Australia) and Liss Fenwick (Australia, whose book was shortlisted for the Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation Photobook Awards)
• run short workshops with leading publishers such as Rim Books, Bad News Books and Tall Poppy Press and our international guests, to build your expertise about making books and publishing
• hold a very popular book fair showcasing photobooks from around Aotearoa and overseas. This is a rare opportunity to browse and collect the work of independent artists. All sales money goes directly to the creators
• hold unique exhibitions of work from overseas and New Zealand practitioners. This year, includes the return of the Mā Wai Rā team presenting new development in Māori photobook making, among other displays.

FUNDING

We’re grateful for two grants from the Wellington City Council but we need to raise another $4,000 to make the event successful. The money will be used to:

• keep events free or very low cost so that everyone can participate
• pay our presenters and workshop leaders fairly for their skills and time
• pay airfares to bring exciting guests and books to the Festival
• make sure our team is supported for the work and time they put into organising the event

WHY SUPPORT Photobook/NZ

Photobook/NZ allows the photobook community to gather, network, learn and be inspired. It connects independent artists and small publishers with people interested in the visual arts, curators and gallerists. This gives the public access to an affordable art form that can be hard to find.  Please help make this special event fly!

NZ income earners can get a tax credit of up to 33% for donations. Please donate if you can. 

Please share this page with your friends, colleagues and interested people – we need your help to get the word out there.

OUR TEAM

We’re five independent photographers, book makers and art writers who work in partnership with Massey University College of Creative Arts, Te Papa and PhotoForum. Our team is David Cook, Mary Macpherson, Gabrielle McKone, Jane Wilcox and Ish Doney. This is our fifth event.

WHAT ARTISTS SAY ABOUT US

'‘Photobook/NZ is an amazing event that brings together the photography, photobook, and arts community to celebrate the medium of the photobook!

I have been attending Photobook NZ since its inception and have gained a huge number of opportunities from this wonderful event. I especially loved the artist talks and workshops by local and international artists like Christina de Middel, Bryan Schutmaat, Jono Rotman and many other amazing guests.

I founded Bad News Books in 2015 and Photobook/NZ has been key to our growth. It has helped us connect with a wider audience, and create new friends and connections and learn from so many amazing people in the photobook world. I fully support Photobook/NZ - it is vital to our community of photobook lovers and creators.’'

- Harry Culy of Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington’s Bad News Books

'‘The Photobook festival was a bit of a revelation to me. I hadn’t attended before. And when I turned up with my little case full of hand-printed books I found myself in the middle of a genuine community – incredibly knowledgeable, generous, interested people fronting directly to their public with exquisite work. It’s rare to meet makers on mass like this. I found a new context for my work, a new artworld of sorts, and made some very important connections during the weekend. Without a doubt the event benefitted my research, and led directly to a substantial publishing opportunity. I’ve continued to benefit from the experience over the last two years, because I keep bumping into members of that community. ‘'

- Tāmaki Makaurau artist Joyce Campbell

'‘Photobook NZ is the two-yearly premier photobook moment in Aotearoa, a high-quality spread of the genre, not to be missed either side of the book tables. The last event at Te Papa teemed with photobook sellers and buyers alike, a rare window to meet and greet, triumphant and gleeful in every direction, with photobook makers, developers and publishers on the official list of talks and workshops.’'

- Bruce Connew of Vapour Momenta Books

'‘Living as I do now in the world, I feel my scope of the photographic firmament is less parochial than when I was coming up in Aotearoa. As a grateful guest at the 2020

Photobook Festival, I found it to be of a rigorous and world-class standard. The other international guests were of du jour repute, and, indeed, the photographers from Aotearoa were of clear international calibre. Photobook Festival Aotearoa is one of a handful of international draws on the global circuit. Don't let the ballhead regime Great Leap Backward and its lack of funding be any indication of lack of merit!’'

- Jono Rotman, award-winning author of ‘Mongrelism' and 2020 guest