Paris Photo Opens as World's Largest Photo Fair
The Grand Palais fair kicks off France's year-long celebration of the bicentenary of photography.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Fine Art
Paris Photo has opened at the Grand Palais, positioning itself as the world's largest fair dedicated to photography. It is the first major event in France's year-long celebration of photography's bicentenary.
Why it matters
The fair draws the international photography market to Paris and marks a milestone in how the medium is collected and shown. Its programming also reflects a push for broader representation within the art world.
Female representation at the fair has climbed from 20 per cent before the 2018 launch of the Elles × Paris Photo pathway to 38 per cent today. The organizers have not disclosed visitor totals or sales figures for this edition.
The players
Paris Photo
Paris Photo is the world's largest fair dedicated to photography, held at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Anna Planas
Anna Planas is the artistic director of Paris Photo, overseeing the fair's curatorial direction.
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was a French inventor credited with creating some of the earliest surviving photographic images in the 1820s.
The details
The fair is organized into sectors, each curated around themes and presented by galleries showing solo artists. Visitors are invited to follow a route tracing photography's history from the 19th century to the present, opening with an original 1825 print by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.
Timeline
1825: Niépce creates the print that opens the fair.
2018: The Elles × Paris Photo pathway launches.
This week: Paris Photo opens at the Grand Palais.
Legal Context
The fair opens with an original 1825 print by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, which predates View from the Window at Le Gras, the world's oldest surviving photograph. Paris Photo's framing of the medium's history starts from that earliest surviving work.
Visitors to the Grand Palais can follow a route tracing photography's history from the 19th century to the present. The fair's sectors group works by theme, making it possible to explore the medium's development in one visit.
The takeaway
Photography's history is still being rewritten: the fair's opening print is older than the photograph long considered the medium's first. Readers interested in the medium can trace that timeline through the fair's history route.
Further reading
For more on the medium's art market, browse Fine Art coverage on Wisevoter.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Financial Times News.
