Where Photography Stands Now?
14 November 2025
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By Oscar Sika Huang 黄子文 - France-based art advisor and gallerist
Photography, as the youngest of all major art forms, is paradoxically the one that has most profoundly reshaped the entire history of art. When it first appeared in the nineteenth century, photography liberated painting from the burden of representation and gave rise to artistic movements that would have been unthinkable without it, such as Impressionism, Symbolism, and later, Abstraction. Beyond documentation, photography laid the foundation for digital and moving-image arts, becoming the starting point for cinema, video, and contemporary multimedia installations. Having worked for several years in the French art market, I have come to understand that France holds a special affection for photography. Paris Photo, founded in 1997, is one of the earliest and now the most influential photography fairs in the world. It has established the international standard that photography can stand alongside painting and sculpture as a fully recognized collectable art form. Each November, Paris transforms into a citywide celebration of photography, from galleries and museums to independent spaces. In October, during Art Basel Paris, immediately following London’s autumn art season, the city becomes immersed in a parallel celebration of contemporary art in all its forms. These months saturate the European art scene and set the tone for the following season globally.
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Boden Sea, Uttwil (1993) © Hiroshi Sugimoto
At Art Basel Paris, photography has been taking an increasingly visible and respected position. This year, while many galleries chose to play it safe with blue-chip names, there was a notable presence of photographic works. Kandis Williams’s exhibition at Galerie Heidi, JR at Perrotin, Linder at Andréhn‑Schiptjenko and Hiroshi Sugimoto at Lisson Gallery all presented different ways of engaging with the photographic image. Several leading American galleries, such as 47 Canal, Document, Tanya Bonakdar, Marian Goodman, and Paula Cooper, also showcased artists who treat photography as both subject and concept. Masters and emerging photographers appeared side by side, showing that photography now speaks fluently within the broader language of contemporary art.
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Candombe Africano via Jitterbug to Virginia Georgia Mississippi Bouquet (2020) © Kandis Williams
Yet the energy of Paris Photo remains distinct. The fair is entirely devoted to photography in all its forms, from fine art prints to photobooks, film, and digital experimentation. I still recall the 2024 edition, when filmmaker Jim Jarmusch gave an inspiring talk about the dialogue between still and moving images. Across the city, numerous satellite events explored the intersections of photography, film, and installation. Artists such as Thomas Devaux from Galerie Bacqueville, who merges photography with painting and installation, Yang Yongliang from Paris-B, who combines traditional Chinese landscape aesthetics with digital cityscapes, Sun Yanchu from Zeto Art, who uses photo chemical materials in painterly compositions, and Laurent Lafolie from Galerie Binome, who transforms photographs into laser engraved reliefs to address ecological issues, all demonstrate how photography continues to reinvent its boundaries.
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Sleepless Wonderland (2012) © Yang Yongliang | Courtesy Paris-B
From Paris to New York, from London to Shanghai, Amsterdam to Milan, the rise of photography-dedicated fairs reflects a growing global awareness. Photography has become not merely a medium, but a language through which artists from different cultures and backgrounds reinterpret the world. Just as it once revolutionised the history of painting, photography today reshapes the future of art. It expands across disciplines, inspires new forms, and continues to evolve in a spiral movement, offering us ever more fascinating ways of seeing and understanding our time.
Photography, as the youngest of all major art forms, is paradoxically the one that has most profoundly reshaped the entire history of art. When it first appeared in the nineteenth century, photography liberated painting from the burden of representation and gave rise to artistic movements that would have been unthinkable without it, such as Impressionism, Symbolism, and later, Abstraction. Beyond documentation, photography laid the foundation for digital and moving-image arts, becoming the starting point for cinema, video, and contemporary multimedia installations. Having worked for several years in the French art market, I have come to understand that France holds a special affection for photography. Paris Photo, founded in 1997, is one of the earliest and now the most influential photography fairs in the world. It has established the international standard that photography can stand alongside painting and sculpture as a fully recognized collectable art form. Each November, Paris transforms into a citywide celebration of photography, from galleries and museums to independent spaces. In October, during Art Basel Paris, immediately following London’s autumn art season, the city becomes immersed in a parallel celebration of contemporary art in all its forms. These months saturate the European art scene and set the tone for the following season globally.
Boden Sea, Uttwil (1993) © Hiroshi Sugimoto
At Art Basel Paris, photography has been taking an increasingly visible and respected position. This year, while many galleries chose to play it safe with blue-chip names, there was a notable presence of photographic works. Kandis Williams’s exhibition at Galerie Heidi, JR at Perrotin, Linder at Andréhn‑Schiptjenko and Hiroshi Sugimoto at Lisson Gallery all presented different ways of engaging with the photographic image. Several leading American galleries, such as 47 Canal, Document, Tanya Bonakdar, Marian Goodman, and Paula Cooper, also showcased artists who treat photography as both subject and concept. Masters and emerging photographers appeared side by side, showing that photography now speaks fluently within the broader language of contemporary art.
Candombe Africano via Jitterbug to Virginia Georgia Mississippi Bouquet (2020) © Kandis WilliamsYet the energy of Paris Photo remains distinct. The fair is entirely devoted to photography in all its forms, from fine art prints to photobooks, film, and digital experimentation. I still recall the 2024 edition, when filmmaker Jim Jarmusch gave an inspiring talk about the dialogue between still and moving images. Across the city, numerous satellite events explored the intersections of photography, film, and installation. Artists such as Thomas Devaux from Galerie Bacqueville, who merges photography with painting and installation, Yang Yongliang from Paris-B, who combines traditional Chinese landscape aesthetics with digital cityscapes, Sun Yanchu from Zeto Art, who uses photo chemical materials in painterly compositions, and Laurent Lafolie from Galerie Binome, who transforms photographs into laser engraved reliefs to address ecological issues, all demonstrate how photography continues to reinvent its boundaries.
Sleepless Wonderland (2012) © Yang Yongliang | Courtesy Paris-B
From Paris to New York, from London to Shanghai, Amsterdam to Milan, the rise of photography-dedicated fairs reflects a growing global awareness. Photography has become not merely a medium, but a language through which artists from different cultures and backgrounds reinterpret the world. Just as it once revolutionised the history of painting, photography today reshapes the future of art. It expands across disciplines, inspires new forms, and continues to evolve in a spiral movement, offering us ever more fascinating ways of seeing and understanding our time.