Françoise Huguier – L’oeil voyageur
From 14 October to 28 November 2026
Galerie Art Absolument
1, rue Monsieur le Prince, 75006 Paris
A major figure in contemporary French photography, Françoise Huguier has profoundly transformed the documentary gaze, freeing it from a purely journalistic purpose.
Since the 1970s, she has built a body of work that is free, singular, straddling reportage, portraiture, and fashion photography. From Africa to Asia, from Russia to Korea, her countless travels have been opportunities not only to explore far-flung territories, but above all to meet the people who live there.
“La curieuse” (“the curious one”), as she likes to describe herself, favors immersion and extended time in order to capture gestures, bodies, interiors, and the details and secrets of daily life. Her style stands out for its bold framing, its careful attention to color and texture, and a highly personal way of drawing out strangeness at the heart of the real.
Whether photographing the women of Mali, the communal apartments of Saint Petersburg, or the nights of Seoul, Huguier consistently blends social observation, sensuality, and a cinematic quality. Each of her journeys becomes a project in its own right, one that unfolds over time through exhibitions and publications, among them Sur les traces de l’Afrique fantôme, En route pour Behring, Secrètes, Sublimes, and Kommounalki.
Huguier’s work also reflects a pioneering commitment, notably through her founding of the Bamako Biennale of Photography in 1994, which helped bring contemporary African photography to wider recognition.
Elected to the Académie des beaux-arts in 2023, Françoise Huguier stands today as one of the great voices of documentary photography, her freedom of vision continuing to expand the boundaries of the medium.
Domitille d’Orgeval
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