Two hundred and forty-six exhibitors from thirty-eight countries gathered under the glass dome of the Grand Palais in Paris for the opening of Paris Photo on Thursday.
The international fair features 199 galleries and 48 publishers alongside a special retrospective parcours celebrating the bicentenary of the medium. The milestone traces photography from Nicéphore Niépce’s 1827 breakthrough to contemporary digital and artificial intelligence applications, according to BFM.
Anna Planas serves as the artistic director of the fair. The international gathering features 1,260 artists across the exhibition space. Parallel celebrations and institutional exhibitions take place throughout France, including at the Louvre and the musée Nicéphore Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saône.
German artist and theorist Thomas Ruff welcomed visitors at the entrance with a 36-meter-long historical installation spanning more than forty years of his conceptual experiments. Curators paired these modern works with rare prints from early pioneers.
The fair overall features masters such as Edward Weston, Lisette Model, Cecil Beaton, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Edouard Boubat, William Gedney, Danny Lyon, Larry Clark, Robert Mapplethorpe, August Sander, and Irving Penn. Major galleries including Sprüth Magers, David Zwirner, Konrad Fischer Galerie, Mai 36 Galerie, and Lia Rumma represent leading contemporary artists under the glass roof.
“The event celebrates two hundred years of photography; they probably asked me because I have been practicing photography myself for fifty years — which ultimately represents only a quarter of its history!” Thomas Ruff
On stand A42, the Galerie Anne de Villepoix presents historical feminist performance pieces exploring body politics and active self-representation from the 1960s and 1970s. The curation features works by Carolee Schneemann, Martha Rosler, Judit Kele, Olivia Crowe Reavey, and Iris Brosch.
Blind Magazine said regarding the showcase running through November 15, 2026, “Photography put to the test of feminist performance,”.
The fair hosts thirty-five finalists for the Paris Photo-Aperture Book Award, spanning categories for first book, book of the year, and catalogue of the year. Winners were announced on November 13, 2026. Publishers present specialized photography volumes on the upper floor of the Grand Palais, featuring works by creators such as Bieke Depoorter, Michele Borzoni, and Rocco Rorandelli.
The event remains open to the public daily. Tickets cost 36 € on weekdays. Weekend entry costs 41 €. Evening tickets from 17 h cost 26 €. Admission is free for children under twelve at the Grand Palais through November 15, 2026.