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The world’s first photograph returns to France after 200 years

From Clarín · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources New plan
  • The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce's “View from the Window at Le Gras,” will return temporarily to France from the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas.
  • The photograph will be displayed at the Nicéphore Niépce Museum near the place where it was made around 1826.
  • France's bicentenary program will run for more than a year, with over 1,000 projects in France and 40 countries focused on photography and visual literacy.

The oldest surviving photograph is returning to France for the first time in 200 years. “View from the Window at Le Gras,” made by inventor and engineer Nicéphore Niépce around 1826, will be loaned to the Nicéphore Niépce Museum in Chalon-sur-Saône, close to where it was captured.

That this founding image, a view from a window in Burgundy, should return two centuries later to the country where it was born.

· Catherine PégardPégard described the photograph's temporary return to France as a symbolic bicentenary moment.

French Culture Minister Catherine Pégard announced the loan in Paris as France unveiled plans to mark the bicentenary of photography's invention. She called the image's return “one of the symbolic moments” of the anniversary: “That this founding image, a view from a window in Burgundy, should return two centuries later to the country where it was born.”

Just as one learns to read a book, reading photography and, more broadly, images has become a matter of major social importance.

· Catherine PégardPégard emphasized the government's focus on visual literacy, particularly among young people.

The celebrations will run for more than a year, through September 2027, and include more than 1,000 projects across France and 40 countries, including Britain, Hungary, China and Brazil. Museums, libraries, universities and art centers will host exhibitions, meetings, publications, podcasts, competitions, educational programs and audiovisual projects. Institutions involved include the National Library of France, the Centre Pompidou and the Jeu de Paume national gallery.

Transparent, invisible.

· Dominique de Font-RéaulxThe art historian warned that photography could become overlooked because images are constantly present.

The government wants the program to reach the widest possible audience, especially young people living in a world saturated with images, many of them “false or disturbing.” Pégard said learning to read photographs and images had become a major social issue. Art historian Dominique de Font-Réaulx said photography risked becoming “transparent, invisible” through constant exposure, while artificial intelligence made visual literacy more urgent by creating images of things that do not exist. Even so, she said photographers were using AI in their work and expressed confidence in photography's ability to reinvent itself. Pégard also recalled that France chose not to patent photography, but to give the invention to humanity, reflecting a view of knowledge as a universal good.

I have quite a lot of confidence in the future of photography and its capacity for reinvention, as has happened over the past 200 years.

· Dominique de Font-RéaulxDe Font-Réaulx said photographers' use of AI gave her confidence in photography's future.
About this summary

Originally published by Clarín in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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