The man who
revolutionizes the universe of books… My friend “Benedikt Taschen”: the man who
sold comics.
Among the greatest International rewards
such as the Academy Award for Cinema, the Nobel Prize for Science, the Laureus
Sports Awards for Sport, a very important World Prize stands out likewise and,
despite being less popular for the general public, it is one of the biggest
international awards for photographers, photo editors, advertising agencies and
newspapers.
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| Audrey Tritto and Benedikt Taschen on "Inspiration Travel" China 2012 |
The Lucie Awards are like the Academy
Awards for photography and every year they honour personalities of
photojournalism, documentaries, fine arts, fashion, humanitarian and visionary projects.This
time the Visionary Award has gone to my friend Benedikt Taschen, the man who
revolutionizes the market of picture books.
Last year I was honoured and pleased to
accompany him together with his great friend, Mr. Monty Shadow, into a
wonderful trip to China with the only purpose of collecting ideas and
inspiration for his next publishing issues.
Over the next posts I will
tell of this marvelous experience and of the greatness of a man who, though
hungry for erudition and knowledge, lives his life through the eyes of a guy
who believes in the value of culture and art as a heritage of our human nature.
Benedikt Taschen began at the age of 18
in a shop of 250 square meters in Cologne, Germany, which he named TASCHEN
COMICS.
In 1984 he made a bet buying 40.000 unsold
copies of a Magritte monograph written in english which after few months he
sold back double-priced.
So he started editing his art books
which by the end of 80’s were available in more than a dozen different
languages at affordable prices. In 1999 Vanity Fair magazine elects Taschen as
“one of the few people in business who has the courage to do exactly what he
wants when he wants”.
SUMO by Helmut Newton is the largest bound book of the
20th century, pioneer of the most ambitiuos Benedikt Taschen’s project: GOAT –
the greatest of all times, a 800 pages tribute to Muhammad Alì, 34 kg. heavy
TASCHEN has varied
into new fields such as cookery and children’s book, and then he continued
publishing books, including GENESIS by Sebastião Salgado
that critics indicate as “one of the most
ambitious projects in the history of photography”.
TASCHEN has
offices in Cologne, Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris,
Berlin, Madrid and Hong Kong, as well as
12 stores all over the world,
from Beverly Hills, New
York and Miami to London, Brussels,
Paris and Berlin with two hundred employees.
Worldwide, the Company employs two
hundred staff and continues to
grow. Benedikt Taschen is bringing modern publishing into a new
dimension by creating collection works and refusing
compromises on quality.
http://www.lucies.org/
http://www.taschen.com
http://www.lucieawards.com
