History
Le Bec en l’air is an independent photobook publisher founded in 1999. Our catalogue is circulated and distributed in France and Belgium by Harmonia Mundi, in Switzerland by Servidis and in Québec by Dimédia. Based in Manosque in Haute Provence until 2010, Le Bec en l’air then moved to Marseille at La Friche La Belle de Mai.
The size of our company allows us to design and develop reasonably scaled projects, of which we control the entire editorial workflow. While we reject being labelled as a “regionalist publisher”, we identify ourselves as an independent Mediterranean publisher open to the world. This is best shown by our many international co-publishing initiatives and our participation in numerous book fairs in France and abroad. Le Bec en l’air is a member of “Éditeurs du Sud”, an association that brings together about twenty publishers based in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. We are also a founding member of France PhotoBook, which provides a voice for the main French photobook publishers.
Editorial policy
The focus of our editorial line is a frequently asked question. Indeed, our catalogue is centred on various topics: photography, art, literature, heritage, walking guidebooks… Yet most of our publications share a common trait, which is the dialogue between image and text or between photography and narrative, whether in harmony or in opposition, through a contemporary layout and ‘auteur’ photography. Our catalogue has been enriched over the years by diverse photographic approaches which nevertheless embody our editorial coherence, based on photography as a tool for questioning the contemporary world, whether it is driven by documentary, aesthetic or intimate concerns. Texts are commissioned to writers, novelists, essayists or art critics who are eager to engage in a dialogue with images, a collaboration which often fosters an unexpected and stimulating outcome.
Team
Fabienne Pavia is our director. She is in charge of developing and supervising the photobook projects in coordination with photographers and writers. She is responsible for distributor and press relations.
Dominique Herbert is our artistic director, graphic designer, prepress and production manager as well as our general administrator.
Céline Queric is in charge of editorial projects coordination as well as our communication and corporate events manager. She is also responsible for relationships with bookstores.
Photobook submissions are reviewed with all due care by an editorial board managed by Frédéric Lecloux, who is also an associate editor and our website administrator, and Fabienne Pavia.
