My first Photokina was in 1986 and it was quite a shock. Nothing could prepare you for the sheer size of the thing and the physical effort required to cover everything to ensure a comprehensive report for the magazine. I’d joined Camera back in 1982 and so had covered a couple of Australia’s own photographic trade shows but, size-wise, these were broom cupboards compared to the multiple halls of the sprawling Köln Messe exhibition complex.
Quite a number of German cities have a messe – it translates into English as ‘trade fair’ – with year-long programs of big international trade shows, a tradition rooted in the country’s status as a global manufacturing powerhouse. In addition to the biennial Photokina, the Cologne complex was also the venue for major exhibitions of motorcycles, stamps, model trains, art, food, furniture, sporting goods and toys. To support these shows, and the tens of thousands of visitors who travelled from all over the world to attend them, Cologne has hundreds of hotels, restaurants and bars… many of which have no doubt been victims of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting cancellation of trade shows all around the world. As far as Photokina is concerned, Covid-19 is more the straw that broke the camel’s back than the main reason for the decision to end it permanently.
Back in 1986 though, the 19 Photokina – subtitled the World’s Fair Of Imaging (or Weltmesse des Bildes in German) – was thriving and attracted over 1,300 exhibitors from 37 countries who occupied all of Köln Messe’s 14 exhibition halls. In fact, Halls 13 and 14 were dedicated
