2024 Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards

The Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards celebrates the book's contribution to the evolving narrative of photography.

Overview

Initiated in November 2012 by Aperture and Paris Photo, the Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards celebrate the photobook’s contribution to the evolving narrative of photography, with three major categories: First PhotoBook, PhotoBook of the Year, and Photography Catalog of the Year.

Each year, the thirty-five shortlisted books are exhibited around the world, ensuring maximum exposure for all titles, including the winners in each category. This year, in addition to being seen at Paris Photo, the shortlisted books will be exhibited at Printed Matter, New York; Tenderbooks, London; and Oodi, Helsinki. For more information on the venues, please see the Aperture website. 

In past years, venues have included Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York; Flash Forward Festival, Boston; Copenhagen Photo Festival, Denmark; Photo Ireland, Dublin; Backlight Photo Festival, Tampere, Finland; FotoFocus, Cincinnati; IMA Concept Store, Tokyo; Photobook Melbourne Festival, Australia; Huis Marseille, Amsterdam; Self Publish Riga, Riga Photomonth, Latvia; Fotofestiwal, Lodz, Poland; Look3 Festival of the Photograph, Charlottesville, Virginia; and Landskrona Foto Festival, Sweden.

Practical Info

First PhotoBook Prize


A $10,000 prize will be awarded to the photographer(s)/artist(s) whose first finished, publicly available photobook is judged to be the best of the year. Twenty books from this category will be selected for the shortlist, presented to the jury for the final selection and exhibited during Paris Photo.

PhotoBook of the Year Prize

This prize will be awarded to the photographer(s)/artist(s), and publisher responsible, for the photobook judged to be the best of the year. Ten books from this category will be selected for the shortlist, presented to the jury for the final selection and exhibited during Paris Photo.

Photography Catalog of the Year Prize

Awarded to the publication, publisher, and/or organizing institution responsible for the exhibition catalog or museum publication judged to be the best of the year. Five books from this category will be selected for the shortlist, presented to the jury for the final selection and exhibited during Paris Photo. Text-only publications are not eligible and will not be considered, however, catalogs can include extensive research, writing, and analysis---whether dedicated to the oeuvre of a single photographer, or an exploration of a collection based in photographic history and practice.

Books and catalogs must be produced or published between September 9, 2023 and September 8, 2024. Books produced before September 8, 2023, but not due for release or publication until a later date in 2024, are also eligible. The shortlisted books, accompanied by the jury’s comments, will appear online. An exhibition of shortlisted books will also travel internationally following their display in Paris.

Judges are Negar Azimi, Jacqueline Bates, Michael Famighetti, Nontsikelelo Mutiti and Anna Planas. The awards will be judged in two stages. An initial jury will meet in New York to select the shortlisted entries in both categories. The final winners will be decided by a separate jury that will meet in Paris immediately before Paris Photo begins. The initial jury will include representatives of both Paris Photo and Aperture, and the final jury will include neither. Each award winner will be chosen from the juried shortlist, all of which will be exhibited at Paris Photo.

About Paris Photo and Aperture

Paris Photo is the world's largest international art fair dedicated to the photographic medium. The annual event for collectors, professionals, artists, and enthusiasts, Paris Photo offers its visitors the most qualitative and diverse selection of artworks alongside an ambitious public program with leading figures in the field.

Aperture is a nonprofit publisher that leads conversations around photography worldwide. From our base in New York, Aperture connects global audiences and supports artists through our acclaimed quarterly magazine, books, exhibitions, digital platforms, public programs, limited-edition prints, and awards. Established in 1952 to advance “creative thinking, significantly expressed in words and photographs,” Aperture champions photography’s vital role in nurturing curiosity and encouraging a more just, tolerant society.