The Grand Palais tells the history of black and white photography with “Noir et Blanc: une esthétique de la photographie” [Black and White: a photography aesthetic]. Displayed in partnership with the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the exhibition brings together over 300 photo prints from the 19^th century to nowadays.

This black and white retrospective highlights the greatest photographers and will open as soon as the government allows museums to reopen, subject to approval from the Grand Palais as it is to close in 2021 for renovations.

The exhibition promotes artists who put the limits of their art to the test creating new techniques and making black and white the very subject of their pictures. At the Grand Palais, Man Ray, Ralph Gibson, Valérie Belin rub shoulders with Robert Doisneau, Diane Arbus and Daido Moriyama.

200 photographs from 30 countries, and three centuries are displayed in the south-eastern gallery of the Grand Palais. Pictures have been taken out of the archives of the BnF exceptionally for the occasion. It’s also an opportunity for photo enthusiasts to discover these works representing the “beautiful photography” that the BnF want to preserve and highlight.

The exhibition explores the use of black and white: if the colorized picture didn’t exist at the debuts of the photography, many artists keep on choosing to take pictures in black and white, despite the technology breakthroughs. It ends up with unique pictures for which photographers try new aesthetic formats, new shapes: we have light and shadow, plastic effects. The “Noir et Blanc: une esthétique de la photographie” exhibition enhances this art and brings out far more than 50 shades of grey.

While waiting for its opening, delayed over the health situation, the exhibition is available on the metro walls and online. Discover movies, live sessions with artists, an Instagram filter, entertainments for children and many more surprises inspired by the exhibition.