Two centuries through the lens at Paris Photo

Questioning history, technical developments and new forms through our past and present collaborators and alumni

This year marks the bicentenary of photography. What has changed, evolved and expanded since Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first photographic image in 1826? By looking into the evolution and constant expansion of the photographic medium Paris Photo 2026 prompts an invitation to contemplate on the historical as well as the present and future significance – and perhaps limits – of photography.

Shifting away from the concept of retrospective exhibitions, Paris Photo 2026 finds its common thread in the history, technical developments and new forms of photography, not to ignore the technological evolution society is witnessing now more than ever. In Artistic Director Anna Planas’ words, “transformations have created a fertile and exciting artistic landscape for the medium, which will only continue to evolve, expand”. A common thread is the given guidelines that help us to make sense of the world. In this case, it is the fair’s take on the status of the medium. The aim is not only to be descriptive on the medium’s state of the art, but also to create a space for positive encounters and criticism.

As we look forward to visiting the fair and reflecting on what it brings to the forefront, I have compiled a short guide through the fair, highlighting our past and current collaborators and alumni. The Main sector at Paris Photo anchors the fair with an expansive dialogue between historical depth and cutting-edge visual experimentation, brought alive through compelling gallery presentations. Intimate solo and curated dialogues punctuate the floor, from Bérangère Fromont at Bacqueville and the material, camera-less investigations of Máté Dobokay at Bigaignon, to the vibrant subcultural landscapes captured by Stig de Block at FIFTY ONE. Visual activism takes center stage through the multifaceted, recurring presence of Zanele Muholi, Der Greif Issue 19 guest-editor, spotlighted across booths including Carole Kvasnevski, Ron Mandos, and Est Espace Exposant Jadwiga, as well as in direct conversation with the cinematic, psychological tableaux of Tania Franco Klein at Yancey Richardson and Klein's solo showing at ROSEGALLERY. Meanwhile, gallery presentations further bridge poignant narrative, spatial, and technical forms, spanning Antoine De Winter at HANGAR, the socio-political allegories of Der Greif Issue 16 guest-editor Shirin Neshat at Lia Rumma, conceptual meditations on time by Mikko Rikala at Persons Projects, and post-colonial archival interventions by Gloria Oyarzábal at RocíosantaCruz. Rounding out this dynamic ecosystem, Robert Morat presents a vibrant dialogue featuring Jessica Backhaus, Roger Eberhard, Alina Frieske, and Andrea Grützner, complemented by the tactile, hand-embroidered photographic interventions of Diane Meyer at Sit Down.

Venturing into the curated terrain of the Voices sector, curated by Francesco Zanot and Zasha Colah, the fair shifts focus toward critical discourse, personal and collective histories, and the politics of visibility. Here, gallery presentations engage deeply with memory and sociopolitical resistance: Alexandra de Viveiros highlights the poignant, surrealist-tinged documentation of Ukrainian experience through the vision of Elena Subach, while Paris-based gallery Ithaque centers the research-driven narrative of Hannah Darabi, dissecting the intersections of sociopolitical revolt, diasporic memory, and Iranian visual archives. Deepening the dialogue on identity, lineage, and the body, Southern Guild orchestrates a striking convergence between Silvia Rosi’s staged explorations of West African migration and family iconography alongside the radical portraiture and enduring visual activism of Zanele Muholi.

Expanding beyond traditional booth walls, the Prismes sector is dedicated to exceptional, large-scale projects, monumental installations, and comprehensive series that challenge the conventional spatial and physical boundaries of photography. Conceived to give ambitious, museum-calibre works room to breathe, Prismes allows artists to move between image-making, sculpture, and spatial intervention. This structural freedom is exemplified in the joint presentation by Southern Guild and Yancey Richardson, which brings the commanding visual archive of Zanele Muholi into a spatial, monumental scale that merges expansive portraiture with physical presence. In contrast to Muholi’s figurative gravitas, Antony Cairns, presented by Encounter, transforms the urban visual landscape through tactile, sculptural installations, using discarded electronics, e-ink screens, and unconventional substrates to investigate the materiality and mechanical decay of the digital city.

Turning toward the forward-looking margins of the fair, the Digital sector investigates how computational processes, screen culture, and algorithmic environments are reshaping the production, circulation, and perception of the photographic image. This shift from optical capture to algorithmic synthesis is vividly captured by artist duo Andrea and Caleb Stein, presented by Palo Gallery. Through their lens, the interplay between surveillance technology, simulated realities, and landscape photography interrogates how machine vision alters human perception and the contemporary environment. A counterpart to these technological explorations is the Emergence sector, dedicated to spotlighting solo projects from rising talents and galleries charting new paths across the contemporary scene. Here, RosAlma presents the work of Rebecca Topakian, whose practice fractures conventional documentarian modes through visceral, experimental approaches to light, the body, and communal rituals. Digital and Emergence place cutting-edge computational dialogues side by side with the raw, inventive voices of a new generation, reaffirming that photography is not merely a fixed historical medium, but an elastic, living ecosystem continuously redefining what an image can be.

Extending beyond the commercial booths, the fair’s pedagogical and experimental spirit culminates in Paris Photo’s dedicated educational project with ECAL / École cantonale d’art de Lausanne. Centered on the research initiative Soft Photography, the project directly engages art historian, curator, and Der Greif Guest Room curator Claus Gunti, whose curatorial dialogues interrogate the emotional economies of the post-digital age. The ECAL presentation examines generative AI, CGI, and synthetic imaging through the lens of affect and engineered emotion, a topic he’s researching with collaborator Visvaldas Morkevičius in our Guest Room “Seeing with Emotions”. Through a participatory device enabling visitors to experience these emotional responses, together with a didactic exhibition, this research aims to make accessible the concepts emerging from this research – attraction-repulsion, engineered emotion, emotional photorealism or potential image.​​

A particularly resonant highlight among the Paris Photo Students Prize, supported by Saif, La Copie Privée and FUTURES. Of special mention is our alumna Jinyong Lian. In her winning project “Trust Me”, Lian deploys staged photographic fables that explore how invisible systems of power, vigilance, and diasporic alienation inhabit the domestic sphere and intimate human interaction. Through performative gestures suspended between theatrical absurdity and psychological unease, she treats the photographic frame as a negotiated space of vulnerability and control.

On a closing note, highlights from the Conversations program which we won’t miss include a compelling public Conversation pairing Zanele Muholi with scholar Tina Campt, unpacking the radical dimensions of visibility and self-representation, alongside live performance by Antony Cairns, that examine the material and digital degradation of urban image-making.