L is for Look

The children's photobook is a relatively recent area of research. Photo Elysée has been regarded as a pioneer in this field, having acquired Paul Cottin's collection in 2015 with the intention of exhibiting and publishing it. On the initiative of the Institut pour la photographie Hauts-de-France, this ambi-tion is now becoming a reality, enriched by the studies that have been carried out in the meantime. The exhibition is being taken on tour, bring-ing it to a European public, in partnership with Museum Folkwang in Essen, Les Rencontres d'Arles, The Photographers' Gallery in London, Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA) in Luxembourg, and Foto Arsenal Wien in Vienna.

While the photobook still represents a relatively small proportion of children's literature, this international selection of more than a hundred or so books reveals the richness of the work produced, which has helped in reinventing the genre. When new image-based educational methods emerged in the 1930s, photography began to be incorporated into all types of children's literature. From alphabet primers to reinterpretations of tra-ditional tales, the photobook accompanies children in their development and emancipation while stimulating their creativity, inspired by a common aim: to challenge and nurture their view of the world.

L is for Look showcases representative publishing productions, which brought together influential figures from photography, graphic design, illustration, and literature and led to the creation of a specific genre initi-ated by photographer Tana Hoban in the 1970s that is involved in con-structing the gaze of young readers. More broadly, this exhibition and book give an account of the development of our perception of the medium, the history of pedagogy, and the status of children in society for more than a century.

The exhibition L is for Look likewise allows as many people as possible to discover the photobook. The museums' education departments have been involved in the process, beginning with selecting the books, so as to take better account of children's experience. This first study of the children's photobook as seen through the prism of the history of photography is closely linked to our perception of the medium and seems to us to be par-ticularly pertinent given the current issues related to the production and exponential circulation of photographic images. With its original design inspired by the idea of turning pages, we hope that this book, which is pub-lished in three languages (French, English, and German), will become a reference work in the field. We would like to thank all the teams, collabo-rators, and partners associated with this project-in particular, the team at Spector Books and the graphic designers Helmut Volter and Ina Kwon.

Nathalie Herschdorfer, director of Photo Elysée, Lausanne
Anne Lacoste, director of Institut pour la photographie des Hauts-de-France, Lille

Sold at the bookstore mudac - Photo Elysée.