A trailblazing event when it was first launched in 1980 by Henry Chapier and Jean-Luc Monterosso, founder of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, the “Month of Photography” has evolved both in terms of its format and its schedule. The work accomplished over the past 36 years has contributed to the widespread fascination with photography and has encouraged the French capital to put in place a permanent infrastructure dedicated to this art form on a scale that is unique in the world.
The designated mission of the latest edition of the festival is to foster a twofold exploration in the Greater Paris area: of photography, on the one hand, and of the fast-changing territory, on the other.
Sustained by the authentic energy and enthusiasm of art centers, heritage sites, public collectives, galleries, and public and private institutions that had never participated in the Month of Photography, the present edition also enjoys the support of Parisian venues whose loyalty has paved the way for its success. The expanded area of the festival affords multiple paths of discovery. From one exhibition to the next, the visitor will be able to explore a rich heritage, natural attractions, and urban curiosities, which are the living environment of 18% of the French population (2 million in Paris and 9 million in the metropolitan area), who are often familiar only with their immediate surroundings.
There are ninety exhibitions spread across the area of Greater Paris, which stretches, with no rigid boundaries, from Clichy-sous-Bois in the East—a town symbolic for compounding physical and mental barriers erected over decades—all the way to Poissy and Mantes-la-Jolie in the West, and Châtenay-Malabry and Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines in the South. In all, thirty-one communes, including Paris, are taking part in this photographic tournament.
The principle stays the same: joining forces to establish strong communication and publish a catalog, as well as foster individual initiatives produced by museums, institutions, galleries, and foreign institutes present in the region, whose submissions I have been entrusted by Jean-Luc Monterosso and Joël Brard to select.
Some twenty venues are featuring original exhibitions of major figures in international photography. There is also a large panorama of contemporary French photographers brought together for the first time.
The events programming marks a unique occasion to survey, on such a wide scale, the rising generations of French photographers, and to assess the spectacular phenomenon of public commissions which allow the young artists to ply their craft. Participants make a real effort to be included in the Month of Photography and use a variety of modes of presentation, from wall display to exhibitions in the public space.
To encourage visitors to be more mobile, this edition has been moved to Spring (April 2017). Three “Intensive Weekends” offer a series of geographic tours: “Intensive North-East Weekend,” “Intensive South-West Weekend,” and “Intensive Diagonal Weekend.” These weekends transform independent visits—available to all and subject to the usual admission conditions of each venue—into private viewings. The photographers and curators will be present on site, creating new opportunities for personal exchange.
In addition, every institution offers private viewings on dates of their choice, open to their regular visitors. The expanded mission of the biennale benefits from the wide interest in photography and the related expertise, as well as from the exceptional cultural network of Greater Paris, which connects diverse audiences.
The proximity of the world’s most beautiful city doesn’t make it easy for satellite localities to attract attention. And yet, traveling up and down Greater Paris over the past year, I had my fill of historical, urban, architectural, and invariably human, discoveries. There is more to the world of art than Brooklyn or Berlin—something artists have been long aware of, since there isn’t a single commune where they wouldn’t have found a space where to create.
Thanks to its rich and varied programming, offered throughout Greater Paris where a lack of awareness may give rise to mutual misconceptions among the residents, this edition of the Month of Photography makes its modest contribution to forging bonds of friendship.
François Hébel
François Hébel is an independent exhibition curator, former director of the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles. He is currently artistic director of the Mois de la Photo du Grand Paris 2017.
Mois de la Photo du Grand Paris 2017
April 1 to 30, 2017
Multiple exhibition venues and galleries
The city Paris of and the suburbs
