France celebrates photographic history with major exhibitions

France is hosting major cultural initiatives to celebrate the history and evolution of photography. In Lyon, the exhibition ‘Robert Doisneau, Instants Donnés’ has opened at La Sucrière. The retrospective features nearly 400 photographs spanning his work from 1934 to 1992, including a dedicated section titled ‘Lyon aux deux collines’ which showcases 40 previously unseen images from his 1950 reportage for Vogue.

On a national scale, the French Ministry of Culture is organizing celebrations for the bicentenary of photography, marking 200 years since Nicéphore Niépce captured the first permanent image in 1827. The commemorative program includes over 1,000 labeled projects and a major exhibition at the Bibliothèque nationale de France titled ‘200 ans de photographies de nus’ scheduled for 2027. The initiative aims to explore the medium's relationship between reality and illusion in the modern era of smartphones and artificial intelligence.