Five Highlights at Paris Photo

Gallerists and buyers have gathered at the Grand Palais in Paris for the 29th edition of Paris Photo, which opens to the public today and brings together 246 exhibitors from 38 countries. The fair marks the bicentenary of photography with a programme spanning historic prints, contemporary work and digital practices.

This year’s programme looks beyond photography’s history to consider how the medium is changing. That question is explicit in Voices, curated by Zasha Colah and Francesco Zanot around the theme of disappearance. The section brings historical and contemporary work together to consider not only what photographs preserve, but the changing status of photography itself.

The fair takes place weeks after Art Basel Paris closed early amid concerns about demonstrations planned for the weekend. Protests in France have continued over the cost of living and conditions in state schools. In media statements, Paris Photo director Florence Bourgeois has said organisers were monitoring the situation but were not alarmed by the demonstrations.

Prices at Paris Photo range from artist-signed books costing less than $100 to vintage prints priced at around €1 million. Photography auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips generated $59 million in 2024, down 5.6 percent from the previous year. In 2025, sales value and volume fell again, according to ArtTactic, although average prices rose 20 percent and sell-through rates reached a decade high.

The five presentations below trace some of the ideas running through the fair, from Magnum’s photographic archive and Kati Horna’s surrealist work to contemporary artists using photography to revisit memory, representation and history.

Magnum Gallery, New York/Paris

Founded in 1947 by photographers Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David ‘Chim’ Seymour, Magnum Photos opened its Paris gallery in 2009.

Zied Ben Romdhane, 'Youth playing on the beach. Bizerte, Cap Zebib, Tunisia' (2023). Photo: Courtesy of Magnum and Paris Photo

At the fair, its presentation brings together work by photographers from across the agency’s history. Philippe Halsman’s celebrity portraits sit alongside Chris Killip’s photographs of northern England and images of children playing on Tunisian beaches made in 2023 by Zied Ben Romdhane.

Afronova, Johannesburg

Founded in Johannesburg in 2005, Afronova presented the work of Malian photographer Malick Sidibé in 2007. At this year’s fair, the gallery is showing a group presentation in Voices, curated around the theme of disappearance.

Mashudu Nevhutalu, 'Family Picnic', (2024). Photo: Courtesy of Afronova and Paris Photo

The presentation includes cyanotypes by South African artist Dimakatso Mathopa, vivid reworkings of vintage photographs by South African painter Mashudu Nevhutalu and works from Gabonese artist Owanto Berger’s Flowers series.

Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City

A first-time exhibitor at Paris Photo, Mexico City gallery Proyectos Monclova is showing work by Kati Horna, a Hungarian-born Mexican photographer and surrealist.

Kati Horna, 'Leonora Carrington, fotomontaje' (1957). Photo: Courtesy of Proyectos Monclova and Paris Photo

The solo presentation includes photographs from Horna’s Cafés de Paris series and photomontages featuring her friend, the surrealist painter Leonora Carrington.

Bombon Projects, Barcelona

Founded in Barcelona in 2017 by Joana Roda Calvet and Bernat Daviu, Bombon Projects is showing Cameroonian-Spanish artist Agnes Essonti Luque in the Emergence sector.

Agnes Essonti Luque, 'Calabash (1)' (2026). Photo: Courtesy of Bombon Projects and Paris Photo

Her presentation considers photography’s role in classification and appropriation, as well as its potential to carry memory and create new forms of representation.

Zen Foto, Tokyo/Paris

Founded in Tokyo in 2009, Zen Foto Gallery specialises in modern and contemporary Asian photography. It opened a second space in Paris in October.

Kan Tai Wong, ''89 Tiananmen' (1989) Photo: Courtesy of Zen Foto Gallery and Paris Photo

For its second participation in the fair, the gallery presents Photography as Witness, a group exhibition bringing together six photographers whose work considers political upheaval, changing landscapes, cultural memory and everyday life across East Asia.