Tired of scrolling through social media and being overwhelmed by AI-generated, unimaginative, one-size-fits-all content? Then get up off the couch and head to Basel for the photo basel international art fair, where everything revolves around photography as art for six days in mid-June. Galleries from all over the world present their artists – from up-and-coming talents to well-known photography icons, everything is there. We give you an insight into our favorites in advance.
At first glance, his photographs radiate calm, but a second look reveals what is bubbling beneath the surface: Denis Dailleux portrays real life in Ghana and in Egypt, where he photographed the revolution in Cairo. In 2000, he won the World Press Photo Award.
In the sixties and seventies, the Slovakian artist caused a sensation on the art scene, as she was no stranger to experimentation, but rather a daily companion. Her nude pictures in particular were characterized by a poetic, clearly feminine point of view. No photography without light. German photographer and artist Chris Tille, who also integrates science into his work, is well aware of this. He does away with traditional tools such as brushes and cameras. Instead, he analyzed the light for one of his series using a spectrometer.
No photography without light. German photographer and artist Chris Tille, who also integrates science into his work, is well aware of this. He has dispensed with traditional tools such as brushes and cameras. Instead, he analyzed the light for one of his series using a spectrometer.
The Ukrainian actually has a master’s degree in finance. Instead of the stock exchange, however, she went to the School of Photography in Kiev. In her art, she gives traditional still life painting a modern twist using collages and photography.
The Swedish photographer had a number of stations behind him: in 1935 he was an exchange student in Germany, after which he moved to Paris, Italy, Monte Carlo and Spain. His preferred working method soon emerged: available light – in other words, he worked with the light conditions that were available.
Although most of her works were lost during the Spanish Civil War, Hungarian-born photojournalist Kati Horna remains one of the most influential voices of her time. During her eventful life, she was naturalized in Mexico, worked for various magazines and became a professor.
Although the American is primarily known as a painter, sculptor and film director, his path to photography is not far behind. For twenty years, he has been producing unique photographic pieces with a rare Polaroid camera from the seventies. The large-format individual pieces allow for a broad spectrum of colors and shades.
The art of photography lies in depicting destruction as beautifully and captivatingly as the German photographer and artist Olaf Unverzart does. His pictures first arouse admiration, then questions about change and the destruction of nature.
Photography and painting are best friends, perhaps even siblings. Of course, they are therefore not always clearly separable. What a camera equipped with Kodak film could capture, Swiss-French artist Stéphane Belzère simply paints himself.
The subject in front of the camera does not have to be exciting. Italian-born Swiss Patrick Lo Giudice proves that even something as trivial as a petrol station can trigger emotions ranging from sweet nostalgia to bitter melancholy.
In the late sixties, Alfons Schilling devoted himself to lenticular photography, a process in which different images are combined, whereby only one image is visible at a time, depending on the angle of view. The shimmering effect is not imaginary, but proves that pretty much anything was possible with photography even before Photoshop and the like.
Advertising photography and art are actually two different things, but Dutch photographer Carli Hermès skillfully merges them into one. Bright colors and a bit of provocation make you want to take a closer look.
Miguel Mas worked in microbiology for ten years before turning to art. Nature remained, in the form of liquid, which runs like a common thread through the Spaniard’s works. It distorts reality and thus creates a new one. After all, how do we know which reality is the right one?
Surrealistic, wonderfully strange and planned down to the very last detail: This is how the Czech artist’s photo series can be described, which not only impress with their artistic aspect, but also because they question social norms in a playful way.
photo basel international art fair
No more room at Art Basel among all the art-hungry visitors? No problem. photo basel has at least as much to offer. Galleries and artists from numerous countries show that there are no borders in the medium of photography. This year, the only Swiss fair specializing in photography as art is celebrating its tenth anniversary.
photo basel
June 17 to 22, 2025
Volkshaus Basel
Rebgasse 12, 14
4058, Basel, Switzerland
photo-basel.com
Get your tickets for this year’s anniversary edition of photo basel here.
Photos: © photo basel international art fair
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