French Museum of Photography

Back in 1960, Jean and André Fage – two passionate photography fans – opened this community-run museum in Bièvres to the southwest of Paris, carefully curating their collection of images and artefacts there for over thirty years.

A vast collection of photographs

With an exceptional collection of nearly a million photos, 25,000 apparatus and almost 50,000 printed documents (including books, manuals, catalogues, journals and posters) dating from 1839 to the present day, the French Museum of Photography has made it its mission to tell the story of photography from start to finish!

How did people take photos in 1850, during World War One, and at the end of the 20th century? How did they share them back when we still didn’t know how to print them in books and magazines? What was the chemistry that made them emerge in the darkness of a lab, well before computers, printers, and digital networks were invented? How has photography, once a complex craft, become a booming industry and an activity almost anyone can enjoy? What use are the billions of photos that we print, file, store and maybe even forget or throw out?

These are just some of the questions that the museum will be answering for you, with its selection of surprising photos, strange objects, funny adverts and more giving us an insight into our photography culture and helping us become critical thinkers.

The French Museum of Photography has a calendar of temporary exhibitions alternating between its three key areas of focus: photos, apparatus, and documents.

Explore museums and monuments in Paris Region.