In honor of the bicentennial of photography, a photo festival titled 'A Look at Life in Times of War' will take place in Paris this autumn. The event is organized by the Franco-Iranian Center in collaboration with the Institute of New Wave.
The festival will focus on recent conflicts, including the 12-day and 40-day wars launched by the US and Israel against Iran. It will explore themes such as daily life and family, emotions and human connections, the traces of war, historical and cultural heritage, urban spaces, social solidarity, the continuity of life, recovery, and hope for the future, according to the publication Mehr.
After the judging process is complete, 50 selected photographs will be exhibited in Paris. The first exhibition will run from November 5 to 18, and the second exhibition, along with the closing ceremony, is scheduled for December 15 and 16. Additionally, a screening of the selected works is planned for Tehran in Spring 2027.
The festival jury includes French photographer and photojournalist Michel Stebun, Iranian documentary filmmaker and photographer Mehrdad Osghi, French photographer and art historian Guillaume de Sard, Iranian photographer and visual artist Maryam Rahmaniian, and Iranian lawyer and international relations specialist Bakhtash Hosseinmanesh.
The artistic director of the festival is Iranian film director and lecturer Mohammadreza Keyvanfar, and the executive director is Seyed Vahid Yaghobi.
For two centuries, photography has served not only as a means of documenting the world but also as one of history's most important witnesses, a keeper of societal memory, and a narrator of decisive moments in human life. This occasion provides a unique opportunity to return to the fundamental tasks of photography: to see, to record, and to narrate the experiences of society.
As part of the continuation of the Franco-Iranian Center's cultural and artistic programs, the second photography competition titled 'Time of War' will resume in Paris in November. The Franco-Iranian Center held the first series of such events in June 2024 under the theme 'Water in Iran,' and the second event is planned for Autumn 2026, focusing on war and its reflection in Iranian life and society.
This visual narrative aims to direct the gaze of Iranian photographers not only toward scenes of war and destruction but also toward people, daily life, the consequences and memories of war, social solidarity, the continuity of life, and hope for the future. Thus, in the year Paris celebrates two centuries of photography, this event once again emphasizes the power of imagery as a witness to history and a carrier of human memory through the lens of contemporary Iranian photography.
The Franco-Iranian Center was established in 2016 with the aim of deepening and developing Franco-Iranian ties in all spheres—institutional, economic and commercial, cultural and artistic, sporting, academic, and others. The Center works to strengthen friendly ties between the peoples of France and Iran, as well as between the two countries.
The Franco-Iranian Center organizes a wide range of conferences, talks, and meetings in partnership with other organizations. In 2023, this non-profit association was considered the most active in the field of Franco-Iranian relations and received wide media coverage.