Each year, in November, PhotoSaintGermain brings together a selection of museums, cultural centres, galleries and bookshops around a rich and eclectic photographic trail, a programme offered both by the associated galleries and institutions and by the festival team, through unprecedented exhibitions.
As part of the 2026 edition of the festival and the Bicentenary of Photography, this exhibition showcases the photographer Denise Colomb. Close to the artistic milieu of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, she photographed many creators of her time. Portraits and reportage bear witness to her sensitivity and her attention to people as well as to places.
Natalia Gontcharova, en 1953 ; Crédits : Denise Colomb Germaine Richier, en 1954 ; Crédits : Denise Colomb Alexandre Calder, en 1950 ; Crédits : Germaine Richier Among the artist portraits that made her successful are Germaine Richier, Antonin Artaud, Leonora Carrington, Giacometti, Natalia Gontcharova, Leonor Fini, Miro, or Soulages.
Also close to humanist photographers such as Edouard Boubat, she pays particular attention to facial expressions and scenes of everyday life.
You arrive, you don't know what you'll find. First, you don't know how the painter will behave. But you arrive completely emptied, completely available. Without that, it doesn't work. No will to make: let things happen.
Denise Colomb, 1990 ,