Daido Moriyama pays tribute to Nicéphore Niépce at the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation

From May 20 to October 4, 2026, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation presents Daido Moriyama – Love Letters to Photography, an exhibition dedicated to one of Japan’s greatest contemporary photographers. More than a retrospective, the exhibition explores the intimate relationship Daido Moriyama has maintained with photography for over 60 years through his images, books and writings.

A reflection on photography itself

A major figure in contemporary photography, Daido Moriyama has challenged the conventions of the medium since the 1960s. Grainy, blurred, high-contrast images captured instinctively in the streets have become his signature, questioning the very nature of photography.

Curated by Clément Chéroux, the exhibition does not follow a traditional chronological approach. Instead, it invites visitors to discover the many ways in which Moriyama reflects on photography itself: its possibilities, its limits, its history and its power to represent the world.

The exhibition features 60 prints, accompanied by publications, archival documents and texts that offer valuable insight into the photographer’s artistic vision.

Nicéphore Niépce, a lifelong source of inspiration

One of the exhibition’s central themes is Daido Moriyama’s fascination with Nicéphore Niépce, who invented photography in 1824.

In the mid-1970s, Moriyama discovered View from the Window at Le Gras, created between 1826 and 1827 from the window of Niépce’s house in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes. This pioneering image became a lifelong obsession.

In 1990, he published Letter to St. Loup, which he described as a true love letter to photography. In 2008, he travelled to Saint-Loup-de-Varennes to photograph the famous window from which Niépce created his heliograph. A few years later, he continued this dialogue with photographic history by travelling to Texas, where the original plate is now preserved.

As Moriyama himself explained: “It was a love letter to Niépce and to his photograph.”

The Niépce House: where photography began

Visitors wishing to extend this journey through photographic history can visit the Nicéphore Niépce House in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes.

It was in this very house that Nicéphore Niépce invented photography in 1824. Open to the public during the summer season, the museum offers visitors the opportunity to discover the birthplace of modern photography.

As the owner of the Niépce House, Spéos has been committed for many years to preserving and promoting this exceptional photographic heritage. Every summer, visitors from around the world come to discover the origins of a medium that, nearly two centuries later, continues to inspire the world’s leading photographers.