Photography

Photography has only been widely recognised as an artistic medium in itself as opposed to documentary and press photography for the last twenty years or so. The impulse of Jack Lang, the celebrated French minister of Culture in the Eighties, did much to establish photography as part of the newly defined artistic landscape.

There is a certain tendency towards concentration and specialisation as far as photo organisations, venues and festivals are concerned in France. In Paris, the Jeu de Paume, the Maison européenne de la photographie and the Centre Pompidou are major institutions which legitimize certain names, with important exhibitions almost always dedicated to artists with solid reputations.

Every two years, Paris is treated to a concentration of international photography with 'Le Mois de La Photo', with around 60 shows in the programme, as well as other events. The festival is organised by the Maison Européenne de la Photographie , with the participation of other bodies including the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and the Mairie de Paris (city cultural department). Such events have largely contributed to the increasing interest in photography on the contemporary art scene and a newly developed market.

In the rest of France, there are smaller venues devoted to photography but more important, a wide range of photo festivals, many of which are specialized. These are listed here, and in the Exhibition Venue Festivals page.

Visa pour l'image in Perpignan is the meeting place for photojournalism (and market place), while the Printemps de Septembre in Toulouse is steadily becoming the rendez-vous for the visual arts side of photography.

The major long-standing annual festival in Arles, the Rencontres internationales de la photography is a general festival open to everything that's happening in terms of output and experimentation.

These events are comparable to the Edinburgh festival in terms of buzz and media coverage and a good place to start if you want to take in the scene and do some networking.

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This article is from the Artlaw Archive of Henry Lydiate's columns published in Art Monthly since 1976, and may contain out of date material.
The article is for information only, and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.
Readers should consult a solicitor for legal advice on specific matters, and artists in London can get free online legal advice from Artquest