Nicéphore Niépce’s first photograph to return to France in 2027

The world’s oldest surviving photograph, ‘Point de vue du Gras’, is set to return to France for an exhibition in 2027. Created by Nicéphore Niépce around 1827, the image depicts a view from his family home and is considered the foundational image of modern photography.

The French Ministry of Culture announced that the photograph, which has been held at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, for nearly 60 years, will be displayed at the Nicéphore-Niépce Museum in Chalon-sur-Saône. The exhibition, titled ‘L’empreinte d’Hélios. 1826-1827, Niépce invente la photographie !’, is scheduled to run from April 26 to June 20, 2027, to mark the bicentenary of photography.

Niépce achieved this feat by using a heliograph, utilizing bitumen of Judea to fix an image captured via a camera obscura. The exhibition will trace Niépce’s inventive process and feature various artifacts and archives from French public collections.