About
The Tokyo Photobook review is a project created by Le Plac’Art Photo in Paris and hosted by Zen Foto Gallery in Tokyo. During an intensive 2-day review process, a panel of expert reviewers works with a group of shortlisted photographers on developing their selected projects into a publication. The review process focuses on publications rather than on individual images or issues relating to exhibitions.
The Tokyo Photobook Review is open to all photographers who have a project that they want to develop into a publication. This is not a portfolio review process, we are interested in working with photographers to help them to find the right form of publication—photobook, zine, newspaper—for their specific project.
Application process
Shortlist and prizes
The Tokyo Photobook Review is open to all photographers working on a project for publication. Applicants presenting a dummy book or layout should send photographs of that dummy or layout. Applicants who have not yet produced a dummy should send a sequence of 30-50 images from the project which they aim to develop into a book. All applicants should also send a statement (in Japanese or in English) providing some information about their project and explaining why they want to turn this project into a book.
The deadline for entries is December 15, 2019 at 6pm (Japan Standard Time). There is no entry fee for applications. Applicants must be able to attend the Tokyo Photobook Review on 3 and 4 January 2020 in Tokyo.
The deadline was extended to December 18, 2019 at midnight (Japan Standard Time).
The deadline for applications is now closed.
All applications are to be sent electronically to tokyophotobookreview@gmail.com (please use a filesharing website like WeTransfer to send applications over 10 MB).
Please note that publication that have already been published will not be considered (with the exception of self-published books in very small editions).
The Tokyo Photobook Review will not take place in 2021 due to travel restrictions associated with COVID-19. Subscribe to the newsletter below to find out once the next Tokyo Photobook Review will be scheduled.
The panel of reviewers selects a shortlist of photographers to participate in the Tokyo Photobook Review. The participation fee for shortlisted photographers is ¥20,000.
Shortlisted photographers receive specific times for attendance to the Tokyo Photobook Review. The Tokyo Photobook Review does not cover shortlisted photographers’ travel, accommodation costs or other expenses.
At the end of the two-day review process, the panel of reviewers selects one winner who will see their project published in 2020, financed by the Tokyo Photobook Review. The reviewers will accompany the winner in developing their project into a publication and presenting it in the photobook market.
Winner – Tokyo Photobook Review 2020
The winner of the Tokyo Photobook Review 2020 is Wataru Igarashi for his project Magnetic Ground. The book will be published in 2021 due to delays related to COVID-19.
Reviewers
Frédérique Destribats © Bogdan Konopka
Frédérique Destribats
Based in Paris, Frédérique Destribats is a collector, publisher, and translator with a focus on photography and art. In 2014, she initiated L’éditeur du dimanche, an editorial platform home to Photographers’ References, a book collection of in-depth conversations with established photographers. L’éditeur du dimanche also supports editorial projects in the form of artist's books with established and emerging artists alike.
Hiroshi Onishi
Hiroshi Onishi
Following a career in the financial world and the foundation of an investment company, Onishi launched the art magazine Article in 2008. In 2012, Onishi started shashasha, an online bookshop focused on Japanese and Asian photobooks. In 2015, he founded Case Publishing. Based on the principle that “books themselves are a form of expression,” Onishi is actively pursuing new possibilities of the book as a medium.
Marc Feustel © Gianluca Tamorri
MARc Feustel
Marc Feustel is an independent curator, writer and editor based in Paris. A specialist in Japanese photography, he has curated several exhibitions and works regularly with fine art and photography publishers as an editor. He also writes about photography and photobooks for magazines in Europe, Japan and the United States.
Mark Pearson
MArk Pearson
Mark Pearson set up Zen Foto Gallery in 2009 as a centre for showing the photography of principally Japan and China. In the subsequent decade, Zen Foto has held exhibitions for more than 100 photographers and published over 130 photography books. He regularly travels between Japan, Europe and Hong Kong, where he currently lives.
Clément and Nobue Kauter © Andreas H. Bitesnich
Clément & Nobue Kauter
Nobue and Clément Kauter founded Le Plac’Art Photo, a photobook store based in Paris, in 2008. Specialized in Japanese photography, Le Plac’Art Photo is dedicated to Japanese photobooks of the 60s and 70s and to contemporary photobooks. They are also the organizers of the Paris Vintage Photobook Fair.
With a large customer base interested in modern publications, Le Plac’Art hosts photography exhibitions featuring the launch of new photobooks. Clément and Nobue have a strong interest in small, independent publishers and hand-made photobooks by artists themselves.
Practical information
The Tokyo Photobook Review will take place on 3 and 4 January 2020 at:
Zen Foto Gallery
Piramide Bldg. 2F, 6-6-9 Roppongi, Minatoku,
Tokyo, 1060032 Japan