Nikola Mihov

Hello and Welcome to Paris explores the ways in which the media shapes the image of terror and converts it into a product for mass consumption. In the series, made in the days following the terrorist attacks in Paris on the 13 November 2015, Nikola Mihov shifts the focus from the events to the key phrases that remain imprinted in our consciousness. In the book phrases from а teleprompter printed on translucent inserts are paired with portraits of reporters broadcasting live from Paris.

Events such as the November 2015 Paris terror attacks become a jackpot for the corporate media in their race for an ever-wider audience. Reporters act with conventional gestures and dramatic intonations, reading pre-fabricated lines written elsewhere, while the segments begin with the obligatory “Hello and Welcome to Paris.” Is this inappropriate greeting an oversight on the part of the editor or a trend in the global news industry?

Hello and Welcome to Paris starts with a quote from The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord: “The spectacle is the nightmare of imprisoned modern society which ultimately expresses nothing more than its desire to sleep. The spectacle is the guardian of sleep.”

The book has been nominated for the Kassel Dummy Awards at The Fotobookfestival Kassel in 2016.