The French Ministry of Culture has announced plans to celebrate the bicentenary of photography over 2026-2027. Mrs Rachida Dati, Minister of Culture, called for a great, popular and festive celebration of the bicentenary of photography throughout France, to honour the invention and photographic heritage for more than a year. A press conference in the spring will unveil the highlights and projects that will make the bicentenary of photography a unique event for everyone.
Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce took the first extant permanent photograph which is dated 1826-1827 and which marks his invention. The bicentenary is an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate photography. France has major photographic collections, major festivals and dedicated fairs and a large network of specialised venues and publishers that make it one of the most dynamic countries for photography on the international scene. The bicentenary will promote these collections and offer access to them, and photography morw widely.
To support the celebration, the Minister announced the creation of a scientific committee which will support the Ministry of Culture in defining the major scientific and artistic activities for the bicentenary. It will be led by Dominique de Font-Reaulx, an art historian specializing in the nineteenth century and photography, and a general curator at the Louvre Museum. The scientific committee is composed of recognised experts in photography and images: Eléonore Challine, Alexia Fabre Michel Poivert, Pierre Singaravelou, and Antonio Somaini.
The committee will appraoch all those involved in photography, from the institutions supported by the Ministry of Culture, to professional networks and artistic venues, in order to bring this festival as close as possible to the public, and geographically across France. They will participate in the development and implementation of a very diverse programme: exhibitions, screenings, publications, meetings, etc. Exhibitions will contribute to enriching the way we look at the medium, in its heritage senses to the most experimental.
Among the highlights of the bicentenary:
- a major exhibition-manifesto will mark the opening of the bicentenary in the autumn of 2026 at the Grand Palais, in partnership with the Centre Pompidou and the GrandPalaisRMN in order to promote the national photographic collections
- a historical exhibition around the figure of Nicéphore Niépce will be shown at the Nicéphore Niépce museum in Chalon-sur-Saône, in collaboration with the Bibliothèque nationale de France
- events will be offered throughout France with the support of Diagonal, a photographic production and distribution network
- A call has been launched for a major national commission, Reinventing photography, led by the National Centre for Visual Arts. Fifteen photographers will be selected to carry out their projects, which will question the medium in all its dimensions, from its primitive times to the most contemporary experiments
- further calls will be launched to professionals and the general public, in particular a national call for projects that will label events selected for their interest and their artistic, scientific or cultural contribution to the history and evolution of photography
Mrs. Rachida Dati, Minister of Culture, commented: 'Born in France two hundred years ago, photography is now part of our daily lives, especially that of young people. I call on all those involved in photography to imagine together a great popular and festive event, with all audiences, everywhere in France. From daguerreotypes to selfies, the bicentenary of photography is an invitation to celebrate the history of this major art in France through our unique collections, but also to show the diversity of the most contemporary creation'.
The scientific committee of the bicentenary of photography noted: "The celebration of the first photograph is a wonderful opportunity to retrace the major stages in the evolution of this art – from Niépce's heliography to digital images – to honour its creators, from 1826 to today, but also to bring us together around common and singular images. Photography has gradually become one of the most democratic artistic expressions. For two hundred years, it has been writing our common history.'
BPH will continue to follow developments as they are announced.
Image: enhanced image of Point de vue du Gras by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. Harry Ransom Center, Gernsheim collection. Original plate c.1826/1827
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