What's on in Paris
René Dagron, Grand ballon à vapeur d'Henri Giffard, 1878, silver print

Louvre · 1er arrondissement

Louvre Photo

Upcoming4 November 2026 – 3 May 2027·€22

Over 300 photographs tracing the Louvre's own history, from the invention of photography to today, showing the museum as subject, model and source of inspiration.

Exhibition website Book tickets

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On nowOpening in November 2026

Preview: written before the show opened

More than 300 photographs, all taken in or of the Louvre: its artworks, its galleries, its restricted spaces, and visitors both famous and anonymous. The earliest are daguerreotypes. The latest include a recent commission from Robert Polidori.

The route runs from the invention of photography to the smartphone, through the Paris Commune, both World Wars, the postwar boom and the arrival of the pyramid in the 1980s. Autochromes, postcards and scientific photographs hang alongside fashion shoots and film productions, drawn from the Louvre's own archives and French collections including the Musée d'Orsay and the Bibliothèque nationale.

It is in the Mezzanine Napoléon, with text in French and English, and the museum gives 1 hour 15 minutes. Entry is included in Louvre admission. Visitors can send their own Louvre photos on Instagram with #LouvrePhoto, and winners are shown in the exhibition. If your camera roll holds a Mona Lisa shot from the back of the crowd, this is where it could end up.

Editor's pick

Over 300 photographs of the Louvre itself, from the invention of photography to today, with the museum as subject, model and source of inspiration. See these before adding yours to the pile by the pyramid.

Look for

  • Dagron's steam balloon, 1878

    René Dagron's silver print of Henri Giffard's giant steam balloon, the image the Louvre uses to introduce the show.

  • Barbara Klemm's 1987 Louvre

    A 1987 photograph of the museum by Barbara Klemm, chosen as the show's main promotional image.

  • Robert Polidori's new commission

    Recent photographs of the museum made for the Louvre by Robert Polidori.

  • Visitors' own photos

    Winning entries from the #LouvrePhoto Instagram call are hung in the exhibition itself.

Good for

  • Locals Who've Seen It All
  • Nerding Out

About 75 min

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The Harvest Season - Ibrahim Mahama

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Irving Penn photograph featured in The World According to Penn

The World According to Penn

Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection

All exhibitions in Paris this month Coming up in November

Nearby

The Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in its arcaded Second Empire building on place du Palais-Royal, Paris, at night

Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain

Design3 min walk
Exterior of the Bourse de Commerce, a circular 18th-century building with a copper-and-glass dome in central Paris

Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection

Art5 min walk
Exterior of the Musée d'Orsay, the former Gare d'Orsay railway station on the Left Bank of the Seine in Paris

Musée d'Orsay

Design10 min walk
The Centre Pompidou's colourful inside-out facade seen across the Paris skyline from the Tour Montparnasse

Centre Pompidou

Design13 min walk

Image credits

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