Regards du Grand Paris (Views of the Grand Paris)

Each year, six photographers are selected for a national photographic commission from the Regards du Grand Paris program under the auspices of the Ateliers Médicis in cooperation with the Centre national des arts plastiques (Cnap).

Sparking multiple, sensitive and offbeat vistas of a region which is undergoing a major transformation; inviting artists to tell their stories and share their perspectives on the upcoming changes in the Grand Paris transportation network: this was the challenge and the ambition of the national commission issued by the program called Regards du Grand Paris (Greetings from the Grand Paris network).

Ranging over a period of ten years (2016- 2026), offering commissions to a minimum of six photographers per year, the program focuses on the development of this project which participates in new urban and social representations in the Paris area. 

This photographic commission seeks to build, over the years, a body of images and artists’ perspectives on the development of the Grand Paris network. The images will be displayed publically, in exhibitions or in relevant publications and the photos will also be included in the National Stock of Contemporary Art, a collection administered by the National Center of Plastic Arts (Cnap).

Each year, a call for submissions is announced in July, with a declared theme. The artists chosen then have 10 months to finish their projects, before entering the photographs into the National Stock of Contemporary Art collection.

For whom is the Regards du Grand Paris program?

• The photographic commission is open to artists of all ages and nationalities and there are no degree or educational prerequisites.
• The candidates are asked to present a photographic project in line with the chosen annual theme.
• The projects are judged on several criteria, including the life journey of the artist, the pertinence of the proposed project relative to the commission, and the innovative dimension of their project. Particular attention is paid to emerging artists, meaning those for whom this commission would mark a turning point in their journeys or careers.

2021 – Observer nos distances (Observing our distances)

Six projects by the candidates selected for the 5th year of this public commission explore the theme Observer nos distances (Keeping our distances).

2020 – Quel avenir commun? (What is our shared future?)

Seven projects by the candidates selected for the 4th year of this public commission explore the theme Quel avenir commun ? (What is our shared future?).

2019 - Grand Paris, fiction vraie (Grand Paris, true fiction)

Six photographic artists selected for the 3rd year of this public commission explore the theme Grand Paris, fiction vraie (Grand Paris, true fiction). The idea of shared space was the edition for the 3rd year, presenting images and notes from each of the artists as well as texts written by Sébastien Chambe, Sébastien Thiéry and Feda Wardak. They were also in a dialogue with the images of words by Eva Doumbia, in excerpts of her play Le iench.

2018 - Translation vers le même ou vers l'autre? (Translation – toward the same or toward the other?)

This theme came from Traduire, chosen by the Ateliers Médicis for 2018, Translation vers le même ou vers l'autre? (Translation – toward the same or toward the other?) examines the new ways of getting around a contemporary city, which continue to proliferate in the passages between spaces and multiple universes. In geometry, a translation is the moving of an object without changing it. Translation in English is neither neutral nor transparent. So in this moving – how much of it is metamorphosis? In a city which is literally inventing itself before our eyes, are we going toward the same thing or towards something else? Seven photographers were selected to explore this theme.

2017 - Grand Paris - Ville monde (Grand Paris – Global city)

We invite you to discover the journeys and the projects of the artists selected for this theme Grand Paris, Ville monde (Grand Paris, Global city): The first images were exhibited in Paris, Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil, in April 2017, during the Month of Photos of the Grand Paris network. A publication issued by the Ateliers Médicis and the graphic designers Huz&Bosshard was edited to present the images in a brochure which also included posters, photographs and texts written by the ten artists. We invite you to explore these publications.