PARIS.- 2026 promises a rich programme of events with a combination of monographic exhibitions and thematic proposals, discoveries and more familiar subjects.

The spring opens with two exhibitions: one devoted to Martin Parr and the other to Jo Ractliffe, pursuing the exploration of documentary photography begun in 2025 with Luc Delahaye. The Martin Parr project offers the opportunity to reconsider the work of one of the most prominent contemporary photographers in light of global environmental issues, subjects continuously addressed by Parr in a gentle form of activism for the past forty years. In parallel but in a very different vein, the public can discover the work of South African photographer Jo Ractliffe, still too rarely shown in France, in an exhibition highlighting the way in which she has articulated the diverse dimensions of landscape in her work, from the aesthetic to the political.

In the summer, visitors will be struck by the contrast between the two simultaneous exhibitions. On the ground floor is a retrospective dedicated to Madeleine de Sinéty, a little-known figure in French photography, who died some fifteen years ago and whose colour photography, taken between France and the United States, will be shown for the first time. Upstairs, visitors can enjoy the collection of Sir Elton John and David Furnish. This proposal comes to us from the Victoria and Albert Museum where a first version of the exhibition was shown in 2024, highlighting the energy and passion of two remarkable collectors.

In the autumn, at the same time as the Prix Nicéphore Niépce, Jeu de Paume will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the very “first” photograph. To mark the occasion, the Jeu de Paume has chosen to present a major thematic exhibition that attempts to write a photographic history of emotion, from the invention of photography to the present day, by means of images by artists, scientists, amateurs, or photojournalists, who have, in one way or another, in their work and projects, studied, questioned, and showcased the complex mechanism of emotions.

Finally, alongside our regular cinematographic activity, two film cycles in 2026 will pay tribute to female filmmakers. The first is devoted to the documentary work of Marie Voignier, presenting both her own films and giving her carte blanche, and the second cycle focuses on female filmmakers from the contemporary Catalan scene, rarely shown in France. These cycles reflect the Jeu de Paume’s openness to new, emerging, and little-known talent.