We are enchanted to welcome you to this 20th edition of Paris Photo, international art fair dedicated to the photographic medium, an key rendez-vous for dealers, collectors, curators, artists and art aficionados.

Paris Photo’s mission, since its creation in 1997, is to reunite an exceptional selection of artworks in an exploration of photography in all its forms, from vintage works to contemporary creations, from the world’s premier galleries and book dealers. Thanks to considerable support, the fair evolved rapidly, as the excitement around the medium was immediate. From 1999, 80 exhibitors participated at the fair, vs 50 only two years earlier, carrying the colours of 16 countries, even then. There were 97 in 2000, 100 in 2002, marking the year that the fair was acquired by Reed.

In the early years, themes were in honour (Fashion and photography in 1999, Company collections in 2000), then nations, one per year, from 2001 to 2011. And even an artist, such as David Lynch in 2012.
In 2011 Paris Photo migrated to the Grand Palais, gaining prestige in numbers with 135 exhibitors from 23 countries, and an innovative programme thanks to the additional space at the disposition of the fair.
The PLATFORM, reuniting some 20 conversations, new exhibition programmes including recent acquisitions of major institutions (MOMA, and this year the Centre Pompidou, with Pencil of Culture, tracing 10 years of acquisitions of Department of Photography) and the private collections, the Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards, and the signature programme that continues to reunite numerous artistes in situ.

Today we await some 60 000 visitors who will be able to discover 153 galleries, in both the main sector and PRISMES dedicated to large formats and series in the Salon d’Honneur. 30 international publishers complete this panorama, to which we add the exhibitions of our official partners, JPMorgan presenting a selection of their collection, and BMW with Alinka Echeverria, as well as our associate partners, Leica and the Oscar Barnack Award, Pernod Ricard with Omar Victor Diop, Erwin Olaf with Ruinart, and young artists presented by Huawei, and which contribute to enrich this year’s fair. Our partners are warmly thanked.

The 20th edition merits an exceptional programme. On this occasion Paris Photo will release a special publication, historical and contributive, coedited with Xavier Barral, highlighting key moments in the history of the fair. Beyond the Grand Palais, a carte blanche has been awarded to Raphaël Dallaporta who proposes to travelers at the Gare du Nord a large-scale photo-installation. Beginning October, Paris Photo is also on-the-air with Radio Nova with guest curators and artists who will give voice to selected images. Discover the images as they are revealed via the Paris Photo et Radio Nova websites.

This 20th edition has a vocation to bring together, enrich, enlighten, and to incite debates and exchanges. Thank you for following us each year, always in greater numbers, inquisitive of the discoveries to be made at Paris Photo and passionate about the photographic medium in all its forms.