FRANKFURT.- From 13 to 16 November 2025, the international photography scene will come together in the French capital for “Paris Photo”. The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation is taking this opportunity to provide a stage to the medium of photography through different formats. From presenting its own collection to promoting young photographers and fostering the academic dialogue, the Foundation has compiled a varied programme.

Collection presentation “Face to Face” at “Paris Photo,” held at the Grand Palais

For the very first time, the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation is presenting works from its collection of contemporary photography at the renowned fair. In a selection of around 25 photographs by 23 international artists, “Face to Face” reveals the special power of photographic portraits, which impressively visualise the diversity, complexity and sensitivity of the human experience.

“Face to Face” devotes particular attention to two artistic positions recently acquired for the collection, both of whom raise awareness of socio-political pressures: Hoda Afshar’s series “In Turn” is a response to the protests which followed the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in 2022. The young Kurdish-Iranian woman had died in police custody in Tehran after being arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s hijab law. Afshar portrays Iranian women in Australia, using the act of braiding hair as a metaphor for solidarity and resistance. Aida Silvestri’s series “Even This Will Pass” finds a powerful visual language for the perilous journeys Eritrean refugees embark on from their home country to reach the United Kingdom. In blurred black-and-white portraits, hand embroidered threads show the escape routes of those affected by human trafficking and the global migration crisis, while visually protecting their identities.

These two projects are juxtaposed with a polyphonic selection of photographs. Regarded as a whole, they highlight the universal power of the photographic portrait: ranging from quiet, intimate studies to bold social commentary, the works displayed span continents, cultures and generations. They reflect the collection’s wide range and include works by well-known artists as well as positions by young and emerging photographers.

The exhibited works are by Hoda Afshar, Diane Arbus, Sibylle Bergemann, Samuel Fosso, Marvel Harris, Evelyn Hofer, Lebohang Kganye, Dana Lixenberg, Daniel Jack Lyons, Vivian Maier, Sandra Mann, Sabelo Mlangeni, Anja Niedringhaus, Gabriele and Helmut Nothhelfer, Anders Petersen, Regine Petersen, Wilhelm Schürmann, Jamel Shabazz, Aida Silvestri, Christine Spengler, Vanessa Winship, and Tom Wood.

As part of the presentation “Face to Face,” the Foundation’s Director and Curator of the collection, Anne- Marie Beckmann, will talk about the exhibited works and the power of portrait photography with artists Hoda Afshar and Aida Silvestri on 13 November 2025, at 2 p.m. at booth P 04. The event will be held in English; registration is not required. Tickets for admission to the fair are available here.

Exhibition “Metamorphosis. States of Change” in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Paris

As part of the exhibition series “La jeune photographie allemande,” the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation and the Goethe-Institut Paris are presenting new photographic works by students from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hanover. The works were created for the “Visual Journalism and Documentary Photography” study programme taught by Christoph Bangert and Karen Fromm. The exhibition “Metamorphosis. States of Change” will open at the Goethe-Institut Paris on 13 November 2025, at 6:30 p.m.

How can change be made visible? With a view to social and cultural tipping points, political crises and conflicts, and the transformation of ecological systems, the artists of the exhibition explore the various forms of change and broach the conditions and causes of change in their works. They challenge fixed identities, linear narratives and ostensible stability in different contexts, employing a variety of artistic strategies and photographic approaches. In “Songs of the Taiga,” for example, Nora Schwarz shows the creeping disappearance of Northern Europe’s last primeval forests and the close link between ecological and cultural identity. In “Ortskontrollfahrt”, Jonathan Funk examines social tensions in Germany and how political alienation, and populism undermine trust in democratic structures. Ludwig Nikulski traces the western borders of Ukraine in “Unter den Palmen” and documents places where Europe’s new ruptured lines are appearing – between the remoteness of war and its palpable proximity in everyday life. In the students’ works, change is not an abstract state. Rather, it is shown to happen in social, ecological and political realities – with its wealth of ruptures, transitions and possibilities. The exhibition is an invitation not only to observe change, but to understand it as an ongoing process of scrutinizing and reshaping.

With “La jeune photographie allemande,” the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation and the Goethe- Institut Paris focus on young photographers at German universities. The annual collaboration offers a selected photography class the opportunity to present their work to an international audience in an exhibition at the Goethe-Institut Paris. The initiative offers a platform to young artists, combining current trends, innovative approaches and central themes of contemporary photography. Since its launch in 2018, six university classes have had the opportunity to present their work in Paris.

The featured artists: Hannah Aders, Jonathan Funk, Paul Geiersbach, Valentin Goppel, Jasper Hill, Ludwig Nikulski, Cecilie Ring, Max Schlag, Clara Schöttke, Nora Schwarz and Antonia Teichert.

Joint award ceremony with the DGPh for “Thinking Photography” and “Writing Photography”

As part of its commitment to promoting academic dialogue on the medium of photography, the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, in collaboration with the German Photographic Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie, DGPh), will host the official award ceremony for the DGPh Research Award “Thinking Photography” and the DGPh Award for Innovative Publication “Writing Photography” on 14 November 2025, at 4:30 p.m. at the Goethe-Institut in Paris.

The winners of the two awards were announced earlier this year. Dzifa Peters was recognized with the “Thinking Photography” award for the research conducted for her dissertation “Tropes of Polarity: Visual Representation and Afrodiasporic Identities” and Esther Gabrielle Kersley received the “Writing Photography” award for her journalistic commentary “The hooded man at the computer: What are cyber images telling us?”. In conversation with Nela Eggenberger, art historian specializing in contemporary photography and founding editor of the magazine P.IN.E.A Photography Intermedia Et Al., and Lucia Halder, head of the DGPh History and Archives section and curator at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne, the two winners will present their respective works and discuss their research approaches.