Dazed & Confused at the World’s Biggest Photo Fair
Stumbling around Paris Photo 2024 at the remarkable Grand Palais
‘What is the right way to look at a photo?’, I wondered as I pointed my phone at an image on a wall. I wanted to give photos the reverence I thought they deserved, but there was one little problem: I didn’t know what that looked like.
I was at Paris Photo, the world’s largest photography fair, where around 80,000 visitors were expected to have shown up. It was the first time I had come here, having been turned off the last two years by the rather steep 35€ ticket price.
This year, though, was different. This year, after seeing photos of fencing in the Grand Palais during the Olympics, I was dying to visit the venue. For over a decade, I’d put off exploring this architectural marvel, but my resolve had finally broken.
So at the start of November, I bit the bullet and bought a ticket.
It was a dour overcast afternoon when I arrived — which was perfect. Nothing makes you feel more vindicated about spending the day indoors than dodgy weather — which was just as well because this really was going to be a whole day affair.
