The prestigious Paris Photo Fair marked its return to the newly renovated Grand Palais, drawing over 80,000 visitors to what has become the photography world's most significant annual gathering.
After an epic restoration, the Grand Palais is back, hosting Paris Photo in spectacular style. Under 8,500 tons of crafted steel with jaw-dropping detail and precision, the photography world has reunited with the very best in culture, artistry, and cutting-edge technology. The Grand Palais reclaims its glory days from the early 20th century, when Paris was the heart of the Universal Expo, especially during this Olympic year, which has been iconic for the city.
This year's Paris Photo was a masterful convergence of curatorial vision and architectural splendor. The 27th edition brought together the world's leading galleries, artists, and collectors, making it the must-attend event of the season. Inside, the venue unfolded like a labyrinth of gallery booths, with breathtaking views from the second-floor balconies offering dramatic perspectives of art and architecture in harmony.
Gagosian drew attention with a retrospective of Richard Avedon and Tyler Mitchell, two photographers from different generations united in their pursuit of deeply personal and culturally rooted storytelling. This exhibition proved especially powerful and meaningful, with nostalgia permeating the presentation. These two visionaries, connected through fashion and the evolving dialogue between culture and identity, felt timeless yet fresh, creating a true bridge between the past and future of fashion photography. Mitchell's contemporary gaze in dialogue with Avedon's historical eye created an eloquent commentary on fashion photography's evolution. Their work, separated by decades yet united in their penetrating exploration of identity, demonstrated how the medium continues to both document and shape cultural narratives.
The exhibition's centerpiece was August Sander's "People of the 20th Century," shown in its entirety for the first time in Europe. A commercial success and one of the most documented sectors of the fair, it became a social media sensation. This monumental series of 619 black-and-white portraits captured life in Germany between the wars, offering a masterclass in image-driven storytelling, composition, and portraiture.
While the curation demonstrated remarkable coherence, the exhibition's adherence to traditional presentation methods suggested missed opportunities. The Grand Palais' inherent grandeur provided a compelling backdrop, yet the spatial flow left certain installations obscured while others commanded perhaps too much attention. Though the historical works were masterfully presented, the absence of more contemporary modes of engagement created an imbalance. The pervading nostalgia, while aligned with photography's historical elements, called for a more dynamic counterpoint to bridge past and present—a dialogue as ambitious as the venue itself.
The fair's commercial success, marked by a twenty percent surge in attendance, reflected both the venue's restored prominence and the robust state of the photography market. Notable acquisitions at Pace Gallery included seminal works by Robert Frank and Irving Penn, reaching €350,000. Fraenkel Gallery impressed with a Hiroshi Sugimoto solo show, selling pieces for up to €500,000. French galleries held their own, with Christian Berst closing a sale of John Kayser's work for €80,000. The fair's digital presence similarly reflected its renewed vigor, with engagement across platforms reaching unprecedented levels.
From timeless artistry to cutting-edge innovation, Paris Photo at the Grand Palais wasn't just an event; it was a moment.
