As part of the launch of a year dedicated to photography (including another exhibition entitled Épreuves de la Matière which runs until 4th February 2024), the BNF (National Library) close to our hotels is dipping into its vaste photo collection (one of the oldest and biggest in the world) for a new exhibition about black and white photography.

With a presentation of over 300 shots, you’ll be able to see iconic images from Willy Ronis, Diane Arbus, Nadar, Man Ray, Ansel Adams, Helmut Newton, Robert Frank, William Klein, Mario Giacomelli…

You’d expect the French National Library to contain lots and lots of books, but not necessarily a large collection of photos – the BNF has six million, all with their own story. In this new exhibition you’ll be presented with over 300 of them, spanning 150 years, from the 19th century to the present day.

The art of photography was first honed through the use of black and white, with improvement and exploration over the decades, and the exhibition approaches the subject from an aesthetic, formal and senstive angle, with special care having been taken with the quality of the prints presented. Nowadays we are used to consuming images seen on a screen, but nothing beats seeing a print close up.

The exhibition explains the origins of black and white photography, studies the importance of light (especially for the old development processes), the artistic scope possible (effects, over-exposure, under-exposure, the importance of the paper used…) and even touches on the use of colour in black and white photography 😲. Intriguing, right?

Get ready to see and learn about Ambrotypes, Calotypes, Rotogravures, Photograms and other specialised development techniques.

Around the exhibition there are documentary showings from midday to 2.30pm (one Tuesday per month) and (for French speakers) a number of conferences one Wednesday per month – Les tonalités de noir dans les photographies du XIXe siècle, Le gris dans la photographie du XXe siècle…

The full line-up of events can be consulted here.

A catalogue of the exhibition is also available (256 pages, 220 illustrations) here at your local Amazon for 30-45€ (depending on your country).

---

The exhibition Noir & Blanc : une esthétique de la photographie (Black & White: an aesthetic of photography) is at the BnF (here) from 17th October 2023 – 21st January 2024

Open Tuesday-Saturday from 10am-7pm, and Sundays from 1-7pm

Admission: 10€ / 8€ / 13€ for two exhibitions

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

What3Words ///gave.question.hunt

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par Bibliothèque nationale France (@labnf)