Paris Photo 2026: what to see, where to eat and how to get in
Paris Photo, the world's biggest fair for photography, opens at the Grand Palais next Thursday, November 12. This is its 29th edition, and it lands in a big year: 2026 marks two centuries of photography, and the fair is the first international event to celebrate the bicentenary, under the patronage of the French Ministry of Culture. Here is what to see, how to get in and where to eat and stay.
The dates
The fair runs from Thursday, November 12 to Sunday, November 15. Public hours are 1pm to 8pm, closing at 7pm on Sunday. The vernissage on Wednesday, November 11 is by invitation or pass only. Collectors Circle members get in from 11am and VIPs from 2pm.
The best time to go is in the morning. Premium and VIP holders get in from 10:30am each day, two and a half hours before the public. If you're serious about buying, those quiet hours are the time to talk to dealers.
The address is Grand Palais, 3 avenue du Général Eisenhower, in the 8th arrondissement. The nearest Métro stops are Champs-Élysées – Clemenceau (lines 1 and 13) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (line 9).
Tickets
Tickets are sold only online, through the official ticket shop, and are valid only for the day you book. There are no exchanges, and backpacks aren't allowed.
>> Weekday ticket (Thursday or Friday): €36
>> Weekend ticket (Saturday or Sunday): €41
>> Evening ticket (from 5pm): €26
>> Advantage Pass, one day with VIP early entry: €89
>> Vernissage Pass, Wednesday from 2pm: €155
>> Premium Pass, unlimited entry including the vernissage, VIP lounge and Ruinart Champagne bar: €255
The Advantage Pass is the smart buy. For a little over twice the price of a day ticket you get the 10:30am start and a VIP cloakroom. Guided tours by art historians from Artstorming cost €28 to €30, but they don't include fair entry.
What to see
The Thomas Ruff wall. The fair opens with a retrospective installation by the German photographer Thomas Ruff along a 36-metre wall at the entrance to the nave, conceived with David Zwirner. The fair calls it its "opening statement".
Two hundred years in one walk. To mark the bicentenary, the fair has laid out a path through the galleries with one work from each decade since the 1820s. It starts with a photo-etching by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce from autumn 1825 at Serge Plantureux, and early works by Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot at Hans P. Kraus Jr. It runs through Muybridge, Atget, Man Ray, Germaine Krull, Harry Callahan and Daido Moriyama. It ends with Yumo Wu, whose 2026 images mix analogue processes with artificial intelligence.
The Centre Pompidou's collection. With the Pompidou's Paris building closed for renovation until 2030, the fair is hosting Revealing, a show of about 100 works by some 30 artists from its photography collection, many of them recent acquisitions. The Pompidou holds more than 40,000 prints and 60,000 negatives.
The solo shows. Among the single-artist booths are photographs Stanley Kubrick took in the 1950s (Duncan Miller, Los Angeles), Merry Alpern's Dirty Windows (Miranda, Paris), Martin Parr at Rocket in London, William Klein at M77 in Milan and Malick Sidibé at Magnin-A.
The new sectors. Voices, now in its third year, is curated by Zasha Colah and Francesco Zanot around the theme of disappearance. The Digital Sector has a new curator, Marco De Mutiis of Fotomuseum Winterthur, with 12 galleries and platforms. Emergence shows 20 young projects from nine countries.
Elles × Paris Photo. This trail of women artists is curated this year by Aldeide Delgado, founder of the Women Photographers International Archive. Since it started in 2018, the share of women artists at the fair has risen from 20% to 38%.
What to buy
If you're starting a collection, begin upstairs. The Book Sector, on the first floor along the walkways and in the Galerie Courbe, has 49 publishers and specialist booksellers from 17 countries, including MACK, Aperture and Atelier EXB. More than 400 photographers and authors sign books there over the four days. A signed first edition from a photographer you love is the cheapest way to own a piece of the fair.
Look out for the shortlist of the Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards, which are presented at the fair. The PhotoBook of the Year shortlist includes Sohrab Hura's Snow and Keisha Scarville's Passports, 2012–2025, both from MACK, and Takashi Homma's This Is Not My Cat.
For historical prints, dealers such as Hans P. Kraus Jr., Lunn and Bruno Tartarin specialise in 19th- and early 20th-century work. If you prefer new names, the Emergence sector is where young galleries show artists at early-career prices. This year's Maison Ruinart Prize went to Philippe Jarrigeon, shown by WOMANRAY.
Where to eat
Réséda Café by Thierry Marx. The Grand Palais's own café is on the mezzanine above the reception hall, entered from Square Jean Perrin. Marx, who visited the building as a child, serves breakfast, savoury tarts, vegetarian plates and his own baguette. It's the easiest lunch on a fair day.
Pavillon Ledoyen. Five minutes' walk away in the gardens of the Champs-Élysées, at 8 avenue Dutuit, Yannick Alléno runs three restaurants in one neoclassical pavilion. Alléno Paris, upstairs, has held three Michelin stars since 2015 and opens for dinner Monday to Friday. Pavyllon, with its 32-seat counter and garden terrace, serves lunch and dinner every day. It is the better bet between booths.
Fouquet's. The brasserie on the Champs-Élysées at the corner of avenue George V has been a Paris institution since 1899. It's the classic place for a late dinner after the fair closes.
Where to stay
The fair's partner hotels for 2026 are Le Meurice on the rue de Rivoli, Fouquet's Paris on avenue George V, Shangri-La Paris in Prince Roland Bonaparte's former home on avenue d'Iéna, and Mandarin Oriental on rue Saint-Honoré. Fouquet's is the closest, about a 15-minute walk up the Champs-Élysées.
While you're there
The Grand Palais has another show on in the same building. Cezanne and Us runs until January 17, 2027, so you can see both in one day.
The Calendar runs every Wednesday.
Hero photo: Paris Photo 2016 in the nave of the Grand Palais, Frédéric Bisson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Inline: Chabe01, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Dates, hours, ticket prices, exhibitors and programme from parisphoto.com. Restaurant details from the Michelin Guide, Groupe Yannick Alléno and Réséda Café.
