Pavillon Populaire Montpellier Opens 'Premières fois / Premières photos' Under New Director Luce Lebart

Luce Lebart, the new artistic director of the Pavillon Populaire in Montpellier, inaugurates her tenure with the exhibition 'Premières fois / Premières photos' (First Times / First Photos), running from July 1 to November 1, 2026. The show explores the question of what constitutes a 'first image' through 200 years of photographic innovations, including first cyanotypes by Anne Atkins (1843), early daguerreotypes by Daguerre, an 1826 heliograph by Niépce, and even the first microphotograph of a microchip and the first radiograph of a Czech hamster. Lebart, who also co-directs the Italian festival Fotografia Europea since 2022, aims to present photography in all its forms—documentary, artistic, fashion, family, and astronomical. The exhibition follows a year-long renovation of the neo-Renaissance building, which now meets strict conservation standards, allowing for the display of precious historical works. The venue, free and attracting nearly 100,000 visitors annually, has been a reference in French photography for fifteen years under previous director Gilles Mora. The exhibition also includes a version at child height and culminates with images from the Hubble and James Webb telescopes, linking primordial photography to cosmic origins. The accompanying catalogue features reflections and images, timed for the bicentenary of photography.