Author: Pierre Bessard

Presented as an accordion-fold continuous book which spans 27 feet once extended. Housed in a clamshell box. Edition of 1000 copies. 26 miles across the Pacific Ocean from the tangled mess of humanity that is Los Angeles and Orange County sits an island paradise called Santa Catalina where time has stood still and visitors can experience what California was like before the Europeans sailed in. Adventures in the Nearby Far Away is a photographic diary of my many visits to the island over the years, a place I have been visiting since I was a boy, and been documenting photographically since the late 90¹s. All photos are shot on film. – Ed Templeton

8. Fotobookfestival Kassel 2016
We are happy to announce the 8th Fotobookfestival Kassel as a special Kassel / Beijing edition in cooperation with Éditions Bessard, Paris. It will take place from 11 June until 3 July at the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre. The festival weekend, with presentations, workshops and lectures, will be from 11 to 12 June, the book exhibitions are from 11 June until 3 July.

Making the Photobook
Together with Éditions Bessard, we invited South African photographer Guy Tillim to continue his long-term city project work with a current portrait of Beijing. Guy Tillim will begin his work in Beijing from mid-May 2016 and will finally realize the book in China with Pierre Bessard and the book designer SYB from The Hague. The work and book will then be presented on Saturday 11 June at the opening of the Fotobookfestival Kassel/Beijing.

Designing the Photobook
Sybren Kuiper (SYB) is one of the most important photobook designers today. He has designed outstanding books for Cuny Janssen, Viviane Sassen, Bertien van Manen, Carolyn Drake, Florian van Roekel, Rob Hornstra, Valerio Spada, Enrique Metinides, Niels Stomps, Laura El-Tantawi and many more. SYB will design the Beijing-book by Guy Tillim and will give a book design workshop and an overview of his work on the festival weekend.
The secong book design highlight will be the designing of another Beijing book from Éditions Bessard with photographs by Pieter Hugo, taken in 2014. Ramon Pez, the art director and designer from Spain will design Pieter Hugos book on-site. Ramon Pez designed award winning book highlights like The Afronauts by Christina de Middel, The Epilogue by Laia Abril and Ponte City by Mikhael Subotzky & Patrick Waterhouse. Beside the on-site book design of Pieter Hugos book, he will give a presentation about his work and a photobook design workshop.

Showing the Photobook
Three book exhibitions will highlight the latest book work by photographers from all around the world: the shortlisted book dummies for our Dummy Award 2016, the experts’ selection of the Best Photobooks 2015/2016, and all the photobooks designed by SYB.

DUMMY AWARD KASSEL 2016
Le Fotobookfestival Kassel invite cette année encore tous les photographes à présenter leurs maquettes de livres
inédits* auprès d’experts et d’un public internationaux. En 2016, les cinquante meilleurs livres seront sélectionnés par un pré-jury et exposés lors de festivals et événements internationaux dédiés à la photographie qui seront annoncés.TROIS GAGNANTS SERONT CHOISIS PARMI CES
cinquante livres par un jury international lors du Fotobookfestival Kassel / Beijing en Juin. Le/la gagnant(e) du premier prix remportera la possibilité de produire sa maquette en « vrai » livre avec notre partenaire k-books, Allemagne, et sera présenté dans le magazine European Photography. Le premier prix comprend aussi, outre la production du livre, la présentation du travail photographique lors de la prochaine édition du Fotobookfestival Kassel en 2017/2018. Le deuxième et le troisième prix sont des bons de production à hauteur de 500 € et 300 €, offerts pour la réalisation d’un livre par notre partenaire k-books.

QUI PEUT PARTICIPER ?
Tout photographe de tous pays qui accepte les termes et conditions peut participer en s’inscrivant et en soumettant son livre inédit*.

CONSIGNES
Nous demandons à chaque candidat d’envoyer deux exemplaires physiquement imprimés du livre à l’adresse du festival à Cassel, Allemagne. La période d’inscription se clôture le 15 avril 2016. La fin de réception des livres sera le 15 avril 2016 également. Les inscriptions se font uniquement en ligne. Un droit d’inscription de 34,00 € est facturé par candidature. Le nombre de candidatures différentes par personne n’est pas limité. Si vous souhaitez que votre livre vous soit renvoyé, veuillez verser un montant supplémentaire par inscription pour l’envoi retour et l’emballage : 8,00 € en Allemagne; 13,00 € en Europe ; 20 € reste du monde. Les paiements doivent être effectués en ligne via notre compte Paypal lors de la procédure d’inscription. Les cinquante livres présélectionnés seront exposés lors de festivals et événements internationaux dédiés à la photographie qui seront annoncés. Certains événements pouvant être simultanés, nous demandons deux exemplaires de chaque livre candidat.

* Tous les livres autoédités ou réalisés via une plateforme d’édition en ligne comme blurb peuvent être soumis. Seuls les livres déjà publiés par une maison d’édition ne peuvent être acceptés. Les participants attestent que les travaux présentés n’ont pas été publiés par une maison d’édition auparavant.

« A French youth » is a story that takes the opposite view to stereotypes and prejudices regarding French working-class areas and people who are suffering. It’s a story about a certain misunderstanding of French history : most of French citizens have foreign roots and their personal stories are marked by migration. But they are suffering from a poor public image. And the January 15th terrorist attacks in Paris have contributed to their stigmatization.
Nowadays, the French youth living in the working-class areas is for a large part Muslim and from the African continent. They build the multicultural French society. These young people are an evidence of present times. They are an indication for the future. The documentary “ A French youth” doesn’t want to give a naïve and optimistic picture of reality. Its main aim is to deal with reality, shed light on these unknown faces and share the everyday life of youth from French poor areas. Following an imaginary line running from the Northern districts of Amiens to the Northern neighbourhoods of Marseille, through suburbs in Paris and Lyon, “A French youth” picks up, step by step, through encounters, the issues young people have to face.
Following several personal itineraries, for a few weeks, we live with them side by side in their environment, and share their joy and their sorrow. “A French Youth” documents a History of the present time.
The northern districts of Amiens are characterized by the presence of white people and a melting pot. Emmanuel is 23 years old. He has just got out of jail after serving a 5 year sentence.
Now he returns to his family flat, in the “Pigeonnier” area. He’s back with his mother and sister. Emmanuel picks up the old habits of his neighborhood’s building n°9, places where he is also used to killing time with his childhood fellows. This is the story of a young man, who first was rejected by the educational system, who was then unable to find a job, but still struggles to find his way. However, a few months later, Emmanuel disappears. No one knows where he is. A new Court decision has decided he would shortly be forced to return to prison. He couldn’t cope with the idea and run away.
The Paris suburbs are separated from the national capital by a super-ring road round the city. It is an impassable frontier for young people from suburbs. Ali is 15. He was brought up in a single parent and modest home and left school early. Now, he aimlessly wanders in his neighborhood of Villetaneuse (Seine-Saint-Denis department). This is the only place where he feels safe. He is afraid to get in trouble with young people from neighboring areas and doesn’t feel comfortable anywhere else. It is a physical and a mental barrier that afflicts a number of young people from the suburbs. Mehdi, 19, lives in Épinay (Seine-Saint-Denis). He too dropped out of school at 16 without a diploma. He too wanders in his district. Under pressure from his mother, Mehdi has decided to take training conducted by a local association. This organization offers him refresher courses, helps him define his own targets and build his professional project.
This gloomy scene must not overshadow opportunities. Saber, 23, lives in Les Mureaux, a distant suburb, south of Paris. He also had training but he symbolizes creativity, excellence and use of initiative within this youth. Indeed, he is a new entrepreneur, and set up a street trading food company. Furthermore, Saber’s aim is to leave his neighbourhood and the life that goes with it.
Indeed, many young people from suburbs constantly feel the need to leave it. “Les Halles” is a shopping centre in the heart of Paris connected by public transport to the suburbs. Every week-ends, large groups of young boys, girls, lovers come in from their neighborhood in search of new horizons and tranquillity.
The Lyon suburbs have been the scenes of riots since the 80’s. No one expects anything any more from the political system. The youth from these suburbs have given up expecting anything from left-wing parties, unlike the previous generation who had hopes to achieve a better life. The present generation feel that they have to take care of their future themselves, including by using unlawful ways. The divorce is pronounced with the Republic and the system in place which they face.
Béné, 15, lives in Vaulx-en-Velin, south neighborhood. Even if he is strongly attached to his regional identity, he turns his back to the values and questions the legitimacy of the Republic. The void tends to be filled by religions: Islam and evangelical Christianity. Wafa, 23, lives in Saint-Étienne, a few kilometers away. She has a deep faith. She has worn her hijad for 3 years and she turned her attention to her Muslim community. This is also in her view an appropriate answer to the way women are considered in her district, a response to the phoney promises from society and its market goals.
The Northern part of Marseille has been the subject of media spotlight due to a series of murders linked to drugs cartels. But there’s more to this youth’s everyday life than what these highlights show.
It’s true that many of them experience a routine violence from an early age.
Young inhabitants from Pyat quarter called “Guirri” formed a gangsta rap band. The lyrics of their songs describe young dealers’s everyday life. They are aged between 17 and 22. They run their own drug deals and they are familiar with street fights, but at the same time they try to build a future for their rap group. They are even models for children, like Béné from Lyon who follows them on Facebook. A lot of young people are more or less involved with unlawful activities. Sometimes, they are involved in smuggling narcotics for a few euro but the rest of the time, they attend school or try to find employment with difficulty.