Photography Exhibition
“Fragments from Elsewhere: Jacques Siegfried’s Travels in Pictures”
Curated by the Institut of France
From 19 September to 31 December.
The exhibition complements the symposium “Thérèse and Jacques Siegfried: The Collections of the Château de Langeais”, held on 29 and 30 September 2026 and dedicated to the figure of the collector. Thérèse and Jacques Siegfried initiated the collection that is still displayed at the château today.
With the support of Fondation del Luca.
The photography exhibition highlights Jacques Siegfried’s first collection: photographs gathered during his travels. Presented in two rooms of the château, the exhibition is divided into three thematic sections: Architecture of the Sacred; Figures from Afar; Snapshots of Japan.
Traveller, collector and man of his time, Jacques Siegfried gathered memories of monuments, landscapes, street scenes, portraits and urban views during his two journeys around the world (1867–1868 and 1881–1882). Arranged in seven albums held in the library of the Institut de France, these photographs bear witness to a world undergoing profound change.
The exhibition invites visitors to view these photographs as fragments: fragments of journeys, stories, encounters, monuments and societies. Through them, we catch a glimpse of the intimate world of a cultured man with a keen curiosity about the world, who saw the rapidly developing medium of photography as a way of preserving his memories.
The exhibition Fragments from Elsewhere: Jacques Siegfried’s Travels in Pictures has been awarded the “Bicentennial of Photography” label.
Find out more.
200 Years of Photography: Celebrating Perspectives
From 1 September 2026 to 30 September 2027, the French Ministry of Culture is organising the Bicentennial of Photography, a major, open and celebratory event highlighting photographic collections, contemporary creation, photography publishing and the many professions associated with photography.
Several hundred events bearing the Bicentennial label (including exhibitions, conferences, audiovisual screenings and visual education projects) will take place across mainland France, France’s overseas territories and around thirty other countries.
The Bicentennial of Photography is organised by the French Ministry of Culture, with the support of a scientific committee chaired by Dominique de Font-Réaulx, an art historian specialising in the 19th century and photography, and a chief curator at the Louvre Museum. The initiative also brings together a wide range of organisations and professionals from the fields of culture, education and research.
Discover the full programme at bicentenairephotographie.fr.
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