Paris Photo 2024: A fair focused on diversity

In 2024, Paris Photo is returning to the Grand Palais with 240 exhibitors from 34 countries. For this 27th edition, the Principal section brings together 147 galleries, 24 of which are new ones from the international scene. In the heart of the nave, the Prismes projects will spotlight large formats, photographic series, video installations and sculptures. 

To celebrate the centenary of Surrealism, the American director and screenwriter Jim Jarmusch has been invited to create a thematic display and to take part in a discussion as part of the fair’s programme of public events. 

A new curated section, Voices, features projects centred on the archive and the Latin American scene, as well as on eastern and northern Europe following the Cold War, under the direction of three major curators: Sonia Voss, Elena Navarro and Azu Nwagbogu. 

The Emergence section, curated by Anna Planas, focuses on the contemporary scene with 23 monographic exhibitions. 

In 2023, Paris Photo became the first art fair in Europe to create a Digital section. This year, the curator Nina Roehrs has enriched this section with 15 projects that explore the limits of the image. 

The Editions section with its 45 exhibitors bears witness to the central role played by the book in the history of photography. This year marks the return of historic books in this section with 3 specialist sellers. 

The Elles × Paris Photo display, which celebrates the work of women photographers, is curated by Raphaëlle Stopin, director of the Centre Photographique Rouen Normandie and former artistic director of the Festival de Hyères. Elles × Paris Photo was devised in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and with the support of Kering’s Women in Motion programme and showcases women in the arts and culture. Since 2018, Elles × Paris Photo has helped to increase the proportion of women artists in the fair from 20% to 38%. This year, for the first time, and with the support of Kering, the programme is providing financial support to four galleries that are organising exhibitions of women photographers. 

The return to the Grand Palais also provides an opportunity to display an ensemble of works by Lithuanian photographs from the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Centre Pompidou and the Lithuanian Photographers Association. This scene, little known to the general public, can be discovered in the Salon d’Honneur. 

In another new development this year, Paris Photo is offering an interactive educational space dedicated to children’s photo books, co-produced by the Institut pour la Photographie and Photo Elysée, with an exhibition titled L is for Look, which explores the evolution of this genre since the 1930s. An ideal event for introducing young people to photography. 

The week-long fair will continue to be enriched with conversations, the Prix du Livre and more than 400 artists’ signings. 

Finally, À Paris Pendant Paris Photo offers an overview of all the exhibitions and events taking place throughout the week, revealing the city’s cultural scene and photographic heritage.

On the cover: Robert Frank, Trolley. New Orleans, 1955 - Courtesy Photo Discovery / Bruno Tartarin

Source: Pierre Laporte Communication