Artsper has been partner of the fotofever fair for the last two years. We have met fotofever's Director, Cecile Schall.

Artsper: How did fotofever come to life? What is the concept of the fair?

Cecile Schall: The idea of the project came to life before I was even born... There are three generations of photographers in my family so I can say that photography is inscribed in my genes. It took me 15 years of working in the field of marketing and 3 years of organizing contemporary art fairs to consider launching an event that would make sense: fotofever was born 3 years ago and its goal is to promote young photographers by giving them visibility and offering the public the opportunity to buy their works.

Artsper: How do you explain the growing success of contemporary photography?

CS: It's art, it is young, it communicates something to everyone, and the works of the vast majority of today's artists can be bought at accessible prices.

Artsper: Each year, fotofever unveils a private collection. What collection have you chosen for the 2014 edition?

CS: After “the eye" and “the buttock", our theme in 2014 is “money". We will show a part of Galila Barzilaï Hollander's collection; she was very generous to lend us about 20 works that illustrate this theme, one of her favourite ones. Galila will be at fotofever from 13 to 16 November to share her contemporary art collection with the public. This promises a very interesting dialogue.

Artsper: A special feature of the fair is the "start to collect" track, dedicated to aspiring collectors. Can you tell us more about this project?

CS: Fotofever's mission is to give the public a stepping-stone and the opportunity to buy photography in order to support the artists. That is why fotofever has made, with the help of its 106 exhibitors, a selection of works sold for less than 1000 euros that we have called "start to collect ". It can be recognized by a red star in each booth. The track is completed by the show of the "start to collect" collection that can be discovered at the heart of the fair. Our goal is to assist future collectors in finding works they will fall in love with and can purchase even with a "small" budget. In addition, fotofever has developed a partnership with the AMA, the collector's guide, that will be offered to our visitors.

Artsper: What is the goal of fotoprize? Who is in the jury?

CS: The fotoprize is reserved to young graduates of art and photography schools. Every year we invite a jury, composed in 2014 of Guy Boyer, Nathalie Gallon, Philippe Assalit and Jean-François Camp. The jury has awarded Laure Fauvel, a young graduate of the Paris Goblins school. Fotofever offers her an exhibition, produced in partnership with the prestigious Parisian laboratory Central Dupon.

The vocation of the fotoprize is to help a very young photographer by offering him or her the possibility to become known to the public.

Artsper: What is your best memory of fotofever?

CS: I have many beautiful memories from the 4 editions of the fair, and I have met many interesting people... I would say that one of the best memories is my meeting with Galila during the 1st edition of fotofever in 2011. She has always been very inspiring to me and her support helped me a lot.

Artsper: Is there anything we should really not miss at fotofever 2014?

CS: The Agathe Gaillard show, a pioneer of photography in Paris since 1975. For almost 40 years, Agathe has had the talent and the energy to be innovative in the field of photography; she was one of the first collectors to believe in photography and I think that photography owes her so much! I am therefore pleased that she has accepted my invitation to come and present a selection of photographs on a theme that she has chosen, “the woman".

Artsper: What do you think of the purchase of works of art online and more precisely of the Artsper project?

CS: Buying art online is the future and it is an excellent extension to the fair. Artsper and fotofever have the same goal: making today's art visible and facilitating the acquisition of works of art. We are therefore perfectly in synch, which explains our two-year partnership.