Meeting Nicolas Polli, photographer, designer and publisher.

‘We need to talk…’ is a new series of public talk proposed by the Centre de la photographie Genève, addressed primarily to artists, photographers and students in these disciplines. Professionals from different fields related to art and photography are invited to share their expertise and professional experience, and to discuss the specificities of their practice. With these talks, the Centre de la photographie Genève intends to demystify certain professions, encourage good practices, and support artists and photographers in important processes related to their profession, which remain largely unaddressed in schools. The first cycle of ‘We need to talk…’ discusses issues related to the art market and its actors, the conservation of digital archives, as well as the preparation of applications and fundraising.

Nicolas Polli will share his interdisciplinary experience in photography, graphic design and the publishing of photographic magazines and books, before addressing issues specifically linked to the publishing of photobooks in Switzerland. Among the questions discussed during this talk: how to determine if a book is the right format for a project? What is the role of a publisher, and how can photographers get in contact with a publisher? What are the relations between a publisher, a designer and a photographer, and how do they work together? How much does it cost to produce a book, and what are the possible financing scenarios? Once produced, how do you ensure the distribution of a book?