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As part of France's commemoration of the bicentennial of photography publishers have produced a number of books linked to the event and the French Ministry of Culture and the National Book Centre (CNL) have also supported a number directly. These have been published, or will appear during 2026-2027. A short selection of interest to BPH are highlighted below: 

• 900 x Bayard. Hippolyte Bayard in the collections of the French Photographic Society (SFP). 

  By Éléonore Challine and Paul-Louis Roubert, and published by Éditions Macula. This book, which reproduces some 900 images held at the French Photographic Society in Paris, is the first monograph on Hippolyte Bayard (1801-1887), inventor and pioneer of photography. Although cited in all histories of the medium, Bayard remains relatively unknown. 

• Camera Luminaria, the photographic collection of the Château d'Eau. The first French public institution dedicated to photography (1974), develops exhibitions, a collection, and supports photobooks. After fifty years, it brings together more than 600 artists and 5,000 works. For its bicentenary, a book published by Bec en l'air features a critical and insightful analysis by historian Nathalie Boulouch.

• Photograph Hunters: A history of collectors from 1839 to 1969. 

  By Anne de Mondenard and Michel Guerrin, and published by Atelier EXB. This book explores the essential role of collectors in the cultural and artistic recognition of photography, from the creation of the process to the present day, and recounts the context in which they assembled their collections. Through the lens of this subject, never before addressed in its entirety, this book allows us to understand, on the one hand, how the history of photography has unfolded, and on the other hand, highlights the emergence of the collector figure from the very invention of the medium and its major impact on the development of taste for photography.

• Collecting Tombstones. By André Chabot and published by Éditions Païen. This photographic work, drawn from the vast collection of André Chabot (more than 250,000 photographs taken in over 70 countries since 1972), is the second bilingual edition, published for the Bicentennial. It explores funerary art from the 19th century to the present day through cemeteries, mausoleums, sculptures, and architecture.

• Two Centuries of Photographs. Knowing, recognizing, preserving. By Bertrand Lavédrine with the collaboration of Jean-Paul Gandolfo, and published by the Committee for Historical and Scientific Works (CTHS). This book aims to provide the means to identify photographic prints in order to better preserve them, and presents a novel methodology for classification and naming. Richly illustrated, it details the various processes from the earliest techniques to the latest digital advances, including the rarest, with a clear, concise, and accessible overview of essential knowledge and recent developments concerning the production, identification, and preservation of photographs from the past and present.

• Of Bitumen and Light- Studies on the Nicéphore Niépce Museum.  By Léo Decoularé-Delafontaine (Texts by Joan Fontcuberta and Sylvain Besson) and published by Editions 77. "Of Bitumen and Light" is a photographic project by Léo Decoularé-Delafontaine that oscillates between an inventory of the collections of the Nicéphore Niépce Museum, a post-photographic reinterpretation, a report on the museum, and a tribute to the inventor of photography. 

• The Ghosts of Nadar.  By David Le Bozec and Pierre-Roland Saint-Dizier, and published by Glénat. Paris, 1862. In his studio on the Boulevard des Capucines, the renowned photographer Nadar is confronted with the deaths of those whose portraits he is taking. This graphic novel, supported by the Heritage and Photography Media Library and the French Photographic Society, takes the reader into the heart of an investigation bordering on the fantastical, amidst photographic trickery, séances, and killer ghosts. It offers an opportunity to discover the uses of photography in the 19th century and its innovations.

• Crossing the World. The photographic turning point of the 1867 Universal Exhibition.  Edited by Marie-Eve Bouillon and Daniel Foliard, and published by Éditions de l'Université Paris Cité in the Longue Vue Collection. In the last third of the 19th century, the rise of photography took a decisive turn. The Universal Exhibition of 1867 is a testament to this. An event of exceptional scale, it attracted over nine million visitors and contributed to the development of photography in all its forms: scientific, industrial, documentary, and artistic. Offering an unprecedented exploration of the archives of this gigantic event, this book also provides an immersive reading experience thanks to 3D photographs of the exhibition, viewable with 3D glasses.

And there are many others covering historical, biographic and contemporary photography. 

Explore the full list here: https://bicentenairephotographie.culture.gouv.fr/programmation/publications

A new, illustrated book, published 3rd September 2020, explores historical forensic photography and narratives of crime, including what crime scene photographs and the practices that created them can tell us about crime and culture in twentieth-century Britain.

Photographing Crime Scenes in Twentieth-Century London will take you inside the homes that were murder crime scenes to read their geographical and symbolic meanings in the light of the development of crime scene photography, forensic analysis and psychological testing. In doing so, it reveals how photographs of domestic objects and spaces were often used to recreate a narrative for the murder based on the defendant's perceived identity rather than to prove if they committed the crime at all.

Bringing the history of crime, British social and cultural history and the history of forensic photography to the analysis of the crime scene, this study offers fascinating details on the changing public and private lives of Londoners in the 20th century.

Reviews:

“In her forensic analysis of hitherto unseen photographs of domestic interiors that were crime scenes, Alexa Neale reveals the part they played in imagined narratives of murder presented in courtrooms. Her microhistories of individual cases, each framed by a compelling imaginative vignette, go beyond the crimes in question and give new insights into social class, gendered and racial identities revealed in the spaces and material culture of 20th century Londoners' homes.” –  Deborah Sugg Ryan, Professor of Design History and Theory, University of Portsmouth, UK

“An immersive, clear-eyed account of Neale's encounter with the criminal archive. Trial transcripts, criminal case files, media reportage, ephemera and, most importantly, photographs found in police prosecution records are read along – and against – the grain. Neale teaches us how deftly these materials were used to create powerful prosecution narratives, and also how to read them now: as evidence of home life, relationships, lives and secrets. Bringing imaginative methodological approaches to her fascinating sources, Neale's work is a microhistory made from the surviving remnants of criminal records. Her reading of forensic photographs is lucid, original and a major contribution to the field.” –  Katherine Biber, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

“In this compelling and challenging study of crime scene photography, Alexa Neale shows how the camera shaped how crime and the law were perceived and represented in modern Britain. Photographing Crime Scenes in 20th-Century London is an astute analysis, bringing together cultural history, legal history and the social history of crime. Neale's book also uses the camera's lens to tell a series of fascinating stories about private and public life in twentieth-century London, from a louche mews in Knightsbridge to the dark alleys of Limehouse.” –  Stephen J Brooke, Professor of History, York University, Canada

“A trailblazing title which opens up this visual world to the crime, cultural and media historian. Through a critical analysis of crime scene photography and narrative this book persuades criminal historians to look at the visualisation of crime in new and exciting ways.” –  David Nash, Professor of History, Oxford Brookes University, UK