BnF’s Japanese photographs: the exhibition tracing the evolution of photographic practice in Japan since 1945.

Did you know? Since the late 1960s, the Bibliothèque nationale de France has taken an interest in modern and contemporary Japanese photography. Today, this collection comprises nearly 4,000 prints by around 200 artists and photojournalists, along with about a hundred journals and landmark books tracing the history of Japanese photography since 1945. This is precisely what gallery 2 of the BnF François-Mitterrand site invites you to discover this autumn and winter, as we celebrate the bicentennial of photography this year.

Entitled "Japanese Photographs from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. 1945-2025. Scenes, Signs, Sensations", this exhibition features the work of around a hundred artists, including several names now widely recognized on the international stage, as well as others who have been less prominent.

From September 30, 2026 to January 31, 2027, visitors will have the chance to trace the evolution of photography in Japan over the past eight decades through 300 works on display, including 250 photographic prints, mostly in black and white, and around fifty rare books from the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

For the occasion, the route is divided into six sections, with, for each of them, a focus dedicated to a photographer. The first part plunges us into documentary photography and realism. Through shots by Hiromi Tsuchida or Ken Domon, regarded as the master of Japanese realism, the exhibition probes a certain form of resilience in the wake of nuclear trauma, while revisiting the aspiration for modernity and the ancestral customs. Hiroshi Hamaya guides us, for example, to discover the isolated and rugged rural regions of northern Japan.

In the exhibition’s second section, the BnF François Mitterrand spotlights more intimate works where the everyday takes on an air of strangeness. Gallery 2 of the building presents photographs from the 1960s to the 1980s by Shigeo Gochō, Tokuko Ushioda, and Eriko Koga, who notably spent six years visiting an elderly couple in Tokyo’s Asakusa district.

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Now we move to the third section of the exhibition dedicated to photography that leans more theatrical. Here you can admire bodies staged by Shōji Ueda, a singular figure in postwar Japan, but also by the contemporary photographer Mami Kiyoshi, and by Eikoh Hosoe, from the Japanese avant-garde of the 1950s–1970s.

The exhibition also traces the ties some artists forged with Paris, among them Keiichi Tahara, Mamoru Sakamoto, and Yoshi Takata. She—once dubbed the Parisian among the Japanese and who later became a photographer for couturier Pierre Cardin—unveils here scenes that sit out of step with May 1968. Visitors can also admire Kenzo Takashima's photographs, drawn to portraits captured in the streets and at the markets.

Finally, the exhibition dissects the world’s calligraphies alongside Sayuri Ichida and Toshio Shibata, before plunging us into a realm of sensations and atmospheres, with darker photographs that are nonetheless utterly sublime, by Satoru Kondo, Hiroshi Hamaya or Toshiko Hashimoto, known, among other things, for her/grainy shots. Also noteworthy are the striking prints of these latest works on display, including a platinum-palladium print by Koichiro Kurita.

With around 300 works on display for the occasion at the BnF, the installation deserves a good long look. It would be a shame to rush through it and miss some real masterpieces. Heads up: if you’re a fan of color clichés, you may be disappointed, as the exhibition predominantly showcases black-and-white photography. On the upside, its diversity and richness offer a fresh perspective on Japanese photography.

The array of artistic movements on display here also lets us chart the evolution of photography in Japan over the last eight decades. Taken together, the works offer a compelling portrait of Japanese society and its history. To fully immerse yourself in this artistic journey, head to the BnF François-Mitterrand from September 30, 2026 to January 31, 2027.