A Guide To Paris Photo 2026 And Beyond

Paris Photo celebrates the Bicentenary of photography and spills far beyond the Grand Palais. Museums, independent spaces, boats on the Seine: here is a curated selection of our favorite events from 12 to 15 November in the French capital.

1. Explore the exhibitions inside the Grand Palais

Bringing together 246 exhibitors from 38 countries, including 199 galleries and 48 publishers, the 29th edition welcomes 80 new participants and is built around the Bicentenary of photography. Five sectors (Main, Voices, Digital, Emergence and Book) offer an opportunity to look back at the medium’s history, consider its transformations, and to take stock of where we are today.

Visitors are greeted at the entrance by a monumental installation by Thomas Ruff, conceived as a 36-meter-long retrospective in the form of an “open book” and produced in collaboration with five galleries: David Zwirner, Konrad Fischer, Mai 36, Lia Rumma, and Sprüth Magers. Presented as part of the Prismes sector, the installation traces Ruff’s exploration of the medium from analog photography to digital simulation. At the heart of the nave, the Main Sector brings together historical works and contemporary practices. It bridges different generations of artists and multifaceted histories of photography, probing the medium’s documentary applications alongside its artistic, political, and experimental dimensions. Nearby stands Revealing, a guest exhibition presented by the Centre Pompidou and curated by Damarice Amao, Florian Ebner, and Julie Jones. Featuring roughly 100 works by some 30 historical and contemporary artists, it offers a selective tribute to the invention of photography, organized across four thematic axes: Making the Image, To Infinity, The Studio, and Identities.

Titled Disappearance and curated by Zasha Colah and Francesco Zanot, the third edition of the Voices Sector investigates its titular theme through diverse perspectives and temporalities, spanning historical works to contemporary practices. Meanwhile, the Digital Sector, curated by Marco De Mutiis – curator of digital art at Fotomuseum Winterthur –, deepens the dialogue between digital culture and photography’s broader history. It highlights both continuities and ruptures, creating a platform for practices that challenge conventional aesthetics while honoring the medium’s restless, transformative spirit. Upstairs, the Emergence Sector presents a new generation of artists and galleries whose practices are reshaping the forms and uses of contemporary photography. Exhibited artists address a wide range of realities, from everyday life to historical and political narratives.

Presented by Centre national des arts plastiques (Cnap), FIX/DEV explores the ontology of photography by tracing the history of its analog era, offering several thematic approaches: document/fiction, realism/imagination, window/mirror, the archaeology of film photography/paradigm shift, extractivism and chemistry/relationship to the living and the information conveyed by the image through its setting.

In addition, ECAL presents Soft Photography – Human Emotions and Machine-Generated Images in two complementary exhibitions at the Grand Palais and at the Espace Commines. Accompanied by a publication, this research project explores the central role of our emotional reactions to the constant stream of images on social media, ranging from oddly satisfying videos and ASMR to rage-bait and propaganda. By combining artistic experimentation and theoretical research, Soft Photography examines how images are increasingly designed to hold our attention indefinitely.

Partner exhibitions are presented by institutions such as Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Photo Elysée, MUUS Collection, and more. Additionally, the Prix Pictet has its own space in the nave for the first time, bringing into dialogue Valérie Belin's Still Life and Alfredo Jaar's The End, two series that use the languages of still life and landscape to confront ecological catastrophe.

Finally, the Elles × Paris Photo path, entrusted this year to Aldeide Delgado – art historian, curator, and founder of WOPHA – is titled An Oceanic Beginning and takes the sea as its starting point to reflect on how the history of photography can be told, highlighting the work of women artists and their role in the history and contemporary landscape of photography and image-making. Since its creation in 2018, the programme has helped raise the share of women artists at the fair from 20% to nearly 40%.

Paris Photo: Grand Palais, Avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008
Soft Photography: Grand Palais, Avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008 and Espace Commines, 17 rue Commines, 75003

2. Follow the satellite trails across the capital

An expansive off-program is hosted across the city’s museums, galleries, and independent art spaces. The celebrations fall under the French Ministry of Culture’s Bicentenary of Photography, with two dedicated festivals guiding visitors along the way.

Now in its seventh edition, Photo Days runs from 2 to 30 November across Paris and the Île-de-France. More than twenty galleries take part alongside institutions such as the MEP, the Jeu de Paume, the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, and Le BAL, for a route that crosses the Seine from one bank to the other. Among the highlights are Nicaragua, Histoire, Mémoire by Susan Meiselas at Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ici grand ouvert by SMITH at MAC VAL, while Atelier Néerlandais hosts A Wider Gaze presented by FOTODOK and featuring artists such as Giya Makondo-Wills, Emilia Martin, Julia Gat, Maite Vanhellemont, Mark Rammerks, Pablo Lerma, Rafael Roncato, Sanne Van Den Elzen, Sheng-Wen Lo, and Thana Faroq.

On the left bank, PhotoSaintGermain (5-28 November) turns the neighborhood into an exhibition trail through museums, cultural centers, galleries and bookshops, from the Musée Eugène-Delacroix and the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts to the Maison d'Auguste Comte and the Musée d'Histoire de la Médecine. The itinerary includes Deep Time and Other Lights by Laure Winants at Musée de Minéralogie, Maximiliano Tineo's El Rey Blanco at Galerie Madé, Last Resort by Rafał Milach at Delpire & Co, and works by Jakub Szachnowski and Tomasz Kawecki presented by RUST Publishing at Librairie Polonaise.

Plus, Sixteen, a Paris-based independent platform exploring photography and cinema as forms of memory, presents the Sixteen Photography Collection Show, featuring 23 new acquisitions. Spanning more than fifty years, the photographs share a common stance: the camera placed within a life rather than observing it from without. Some works stem from the intimacy of family and home; others apply that same closeness to landscape, desire, and the body. Together, they ask where the photographer ends and the subject begins.

Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson: 79 rue des Archives, 75003
MAC VAL: Place de la Libération, 94400 Vitry-sur-Seine
Atelier Néerlandais: 22 Avenue Victoria, 75001
MEP – Maison Européenne de la Photographie: 5-7 rue de Fourcy, 75004
Jeu de Paume: 1 place de la Concorde, 75008
Musée du quai Branly: 37 quai Branly, 75007
Le BAL: 6 impasse de la Défense, 75018
Musée Eugène-Delacroix: 6 rue de Furstenberg, 75006
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts: 14 rue Bonaparte, 75006
Maison d’Auguste Comte: 10 rue Monsieur le Prince, 75006
Musée d’Histoire de la Médecine: 12 rue de l’École de Médecine, 75006
Musée de Minéralogie: 60 boulevard Saint-Michel, 75006
Galerie Madé: 30 rue Mazarine, 75006
Delpire & Co: 13 rue de l’Abbaye, 75006
Librairie Polonaise: 123 boulevard Saint-Germain, 75006
Sixteen Photography Collection Show: 24 rue du Vertbois, 75003

3. Participate in the conversations

The annual Conversations bring together artists, curators, critics and theorists for four one-hour sessions each day featuring major figures such as Thomas Ruff, Thomas Demand and Zanele Muholi, as well as image theorists such as Tina Campt and Arno Gisinger. In Photographic emotions in CGI and AI imaging, Charlie Engman and curator Marco De Mutiis discuss the human component of generative technologies, their technical shortcomings and innate inability to understand emotions. In collaboration with Aperture and The Messy Truth, Gem Fletcher and Elle Pérez reflect on how images come together and where they fall apart in What is the work of photography today? On the other hand, Is the future of collecting Female? enquires into the new challenges for collecting, and The cost of beauty gathers Valérie Belin, Alfredo Jaar and curator Brandei Estes to explore how beauty can confront uncomfortable truths.

Organized with Printed Matter, the Book Talks provide conversations with artists and publishers about the relationship between artists’ books and photography. These include Karla Hiraldo Voleau and Anne Bourrassé on Doble Moral, Adam Rouhana and Taous Dahmani on Before Freedom, Patrick Pound and Alejandro Cartagena discussing Archives & Found Photos, and Sofia Coppola in conversation with publisher Michael Mack on photography, publishing, and the influence of photobooks.

Polycopies offers an extensive lineup of roundtables aboard the Concorde-Atlantique boat, turning the Seine into a lively forum for independent photobook culture. This year's program tackles key debates surrounding alternative publishing models, the craft of photobook making, and the evolving role of print distribution today.

In collaboration with FOTODOK, Sugar Paper hosts Blind Date With A Photobook, a playful, informal event where participants choose mystery wrapped books guided solely by short thematic clues – free from the influence of titles, authors, or covers. In small groups, attendees unwrap their selections to explore the pages together and spark open, unpretentious conversations about what they discover, with no prior photobook expertise required.

Presented by British Journal of Photography and Autograph and taking place at the British Council, In front of the lens, behind the lens: Women and the Muslim experience is a panel discussion with Camille Farrah Lenain – joined by Miriam Ali and Seema Khalique, in a conversation chaired by Sebah Chaudhry – on the experience of Muslim women both in front of and behind the camera.

Alongside its exhibition The Ecology of Movement, FUTURES is hosting a three-day public program of lectures, panel discussions, and book talks at Atelier 13 Sévigné in Le Marais. Open to the public, the series convenes artists, curators, and industry voices to address pressing contemporary themes – spanning art and the climate crisis, photography under algorithmic conditions, and regenerative creative practices.

Conversations and Book Talks: Grand Palais, Avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008
Polycopies roundtables: Port Solférino 23 quai Anatole France, 75007
Blind Date With A Photobook: Atelier Néerlandais, 22 Avenue Victoria, 75001
British Council panel: 9 rue de Constantine, 75007
The Ecology of Movement: 13 rue de Sévigné, 75004

4. Attend the ceremonies and performances

Now in its fourteenth year, the Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards celebrate the photobook's enduring role in the photography narrative. This year, the awards received a record number of books from fifty-six countries, and thirty-five titles have been shortlisted across the three categories: twenty for First PhotoBook, ten for PhotoBook of the Year and five for Photography Catalogue of the Year. All the shortlisted books are exhibited at Grand Palais. A final jury of five members meets on Thursday 12 November, and the prize recipients will be announced at a ceremony at the fair on Friday 13 November at 3 pm.

Organized by Foam since 2007, the Foam Paul Huf Award will announce its 20th recipient on November 12, 2026. With PhMuseum Founder and Artistic Director Giuseppe Oliverio among this year’s nominators, the prestigious annual award celebrates mid-career photographers who demonstrate a distinct artistic vision and continue to push the boundaries of contemporary photography.

A dedicated live program expands photography through performance, spoken word, and collaborative action. In Temps mort, Jacopo Benassi bypasses the stage to move through the crowd, inviting audience disruption and using photography to set the performance's rhythm. Rabih Mroué’s Before Falling features three non-academic lectures dissecting archives, memory, and war-torn Lebanon, questioning the boundary between artistic representation and real conflict. Finally, Cyrus Goberville and Joseph Ghosn host a live Book Jockey Session, borrowing DJ techniques to sample, sequence, and narrate images drawn directly from their personal collections of rare photobooks.

Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards: Grand Palais, Avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008
Foam Paul Huf Award: event on invitation
Performances: Grand Palais, Avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008

5. Browse and collect photobooks

On the first floor of the Grand Palais, the Book Sector offers a panorama of international photography publishing, from contemporary publications to historical and rare books. Alongside MACK, Atelier EXB, Aperture, Art Paper Editions, VOID, The Eriskay Connection, Porsuite, Éditions Images Vevey, Chose Commune, and Deadbeat Club among others, the 2026 edition welcomes several first-time exhibitors: Gato Negro and Obsidiana from Mexico City, Palm*Studios from London, Sun Archive from Wrocław and Fw:Books from Amsterdam.

The above-mentioned Polycopies transforms the Concorde-Atlantique boat, moored on the Seine at Port de Solférino, into a large gathering fully dedicated to photobooks. From 11 to 15 November, over a hundred international publishers and booksellers from more than twenty countries welcome photobook lovers. This edition puts a spotlight on Japan, with five Japanese exhibitors, and opens a discovery space dedicated to self-published works, micro-publishing and emerging structures. Among the participating publishers and collectives are Hapax Magazine, Asola Press, Dunes Éditions, Breadfield Press, Hectic Books, Artphilein Editions, Charcoal Press, Dalpine, Disko Bay, Ediciones Anómalas, Grani Edizioni, KABK, Kominek Books, Kult Books, La Chancleta Voladora, Libraryman, Nazraeli Press, Nearest Truth Editions, Saetta, Vernacular Social Club, ZYZ, Zoetrope Athens, Raya Editorial, Overlapse, Jiazazhi Press, and more.

Book Sector: Grand Palais, Avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008
Polycopies: Port Solférino 23 quai Anatole France, 75007

6. Meet the authors for book signings & launches

Book signings and launches offer an opportunity to meet photographers, artists, and authors in person while adding a dedicated signature to your collection. Aperture and Magnum Foundation will celebrate The Beirut Issue on Wednesday 11 November at Dover Street Market Paris. Guest-edited by Myriam Boulos, the upcoming issue features a curated selection of photographers from Lebanon. Jason Fulford hosts a performative Parisian petit-déjeuner celebrating the debut of his volume Frozen Features, blending breakfast with playful artistic intervention. LSD – Laboratory Scan & Developing – stages an exhibition and launch for Jean-Vincent Simonet’s Cyan Years, highlighting his experimental, chemically saturated imagery.

Meanwhile, FOMU launches TRIGGER #7: Ocean, a publication guest-edited by Oceanographies Collective and designed by Fw:Books that questions what happens when water replaces land as photography’s point of departure. The accompanying discussion brings together contributors alongside artists from FOTODOK’s A Wider Gaze, prompting attendees to reconsider image-making through the sea’s ecological, political, and mnemonic currents.

Florence Loewy hosts the launch of five new books by Roma Publications with a Swiss touch: Emmanuelle Antille's The Wonder Way Project , Jules Spinatsch's pitalismus ist ill (+ On Jules Spinatsch), Hugues Reip's Εωσφόρος / 15 Panels for Mauvoisin Dam, Luciano Rigolini's Something, almost nothing and Shirana Shahbazi's All at Once.

In addition, Creatura will launch the second issue of its magazine, featuring a fresh collection of images, stories, voices, and perspectives on contemporary Latin American culture and art – spanning borders, generations, and geographies. The launch will be celebrated with an evening party at Mmatters Gallery on Thursday 12 November, complete with live music, a DJ set, and empanadas.

Bieke Depoorter, Valentina Neri, Odysseas Tsompanoglou, Emilio Nasser, Fabio Barile, Matteo De Mayda and Giovanna Calvenzi, Rinko Kawauchi, Nicolas Floc'h, Jo Ractliffe, Charlie Engman, Tara L. C. Sood, Rebecca Topakian, Carolyn Drake, SMITH, Tim Carpenter, Diana Markosian, Alejandro Cartagena, Todd Hido, Allie Tsubota, Farren van Wyk, Zanele Muholi, Yufan Lu, Magdalena Wysocka and Claudio Pogo, Erli Grünzweil, Elena Helfrecht, Sayuri Ichida, Max Pinckers, Brea Souders, Sunil Gupta, and Tomoko Nagakawa are just a few of the artists you can meet across Polycopies and Paris Photo.

The Beirut Issue: 35-37 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 75004
Parisian petit-déjeuner: 13 Rue de l'Abbaye, 75006
Cyan Years: 47 rue de la Folie Méricourt, 75011
TRIGGER #7: Ocean: 22 Avenue Victoria, 75001
Roma Publications at Florence Loewy: 9 Rue de Thorigny, 75003
Creatura: 2 rue Commines, 75003
Artist meetings: at Polycopies and Paris Photo (addresses above)

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Extra:

The Ecology of Movement by FUTURES at Atelier 13 Sévigné, Le Marais
13 rue de Sévigné, 75004

Presented during the Bicentenary of photography and ten years after the Paris Agreement entered into force, this exhibition explores the relationship between photography, environmental responsibility and cultural production. Curated by Julia Rajacic, independent curator and founder of Jardino, it brings together five photographers who turn ecological limits into a source of experimentation: Alexandra Baumgartner, Benedetta Casagrande, Diana Lelonek, Santiago Martinez Benedetti, and Laure Winants. The exhibition itself is eco-designed, from travel and shipping to staging and catering.

Patria Nostra by Julie Joubert at Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire
17 Rue des Filles du Calvaire, 75003

Parallel to the release of her new monograph, Joubert will have a solo exhibition at Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire. Patria Nostra is the result of three years spent immersed within the French Foreign Legion. Through a series of photographs taken at several of the Legion’s bases, Joubert documents the journey of young recruits, from their selection to their integration into operational regiments. Moving beyond the military institution, her work explores uprooting, belonging, and self-reconstruction, revealing the individual journeys that unfold behind the corps' imposed uniformity.

ATLAS FOLIO – Hemelliggaam with The Eriskay Connection
Grand Palais, Avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008

At the Paris Photo fair on Saturday 14 November from 11 am to 1 pm, a special viewing will showcase the Atlas Folio, an ultra-large-format, 21-kg book limited to just three signed and numbered copies by artists Tommaso Fiscaletti and Nic Grobler. Each purchase includes a limited-edition print and helps fund an upcoming smaller trade edition of the work. Originating in 2016 and curated by Filippo Maggia, the Hemelliggaam (“heavenly body”) project explores the intersections of humanity, South African landscapes, and cosmic observation through photography, video, and installations, drawing inspiration from Karoo observatories, radio telescope facilities like the SKA, and Afrikaans science fiction to reflect on how we measure, imagine, and experience the universe.

Der Greif Issue 19 Launch Events
Grand Palais, Avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008 & Atelier 13, 13 Rue Cadet, 75009

To celebrate the release of Der Greif Issue 19, I Am Because of You, Mother Earth – guest-edited by visual activist Zanele Muholi with the support of the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung – the publication hosts three events across Paris combining photography, dialogue, and community. The program launches with an official release reception at Paris Photo in the Grand Palais, followed by an evening gathering co-hosted with FUTURES. Celebrations conclude with an open public workshop featuring writer Alvin Kathembe alongside nine international contributing artists.

Penser le Présent with Boaz Levin at Amphithéâtre des loges
14 rue Bonaparte, 75006

Boaz Levin, curator and co-head of exhibitions at C/O Berlin, co-curated Mining Photography: The Ecological Footprint of Image Production, an exhibition examining how the medium's 19th-century inception was deeply intertwined with fossil capitalism, resource extraction, cheap labor, and environmental waste. In the talk Penser le Présent, Levin reflects on the project's origins and its urgent contemporary relevance, exploring how modern technological dependencies on rare earth mining persist and how contemporary artists critically intervene in these extractive cycles.

Cose Paris Launch: Issue IV – BED
66 Rue Charlot

Cose will launch its fourth issue, titled BED, at 66 Rue Charlot on Friday 13 November, featuring an exhibition conceived with Services Continu that brings the issue to life. Showcasing photography and a video projection, the exhibition will also remain open to the public on Saturday 14 November.

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Paris Photo will be open from 12 to 15 November, 1pm-8pm (7pm on Sunday), at the Grand Palais, Avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008 Paris.