Co-produced by the Institut pour la photographie in Lille and Photo Elysée, L is for Look explores children's photo books, from their industrial boom in the 1930s to the present day. Although this type of publication remains marginal in the publishing landscape, it bears witness to the evolution of our perception of photography, the history of education, and the status of children in Western societies over more than a century.
Children's photobooks have benefited from the emergence of new image-centered teaching methods. Photography is finding its way into all areas of children's literature, from picture books to fiction, including works with educational, pedagogical, or creative aims. By renewing this publishing genre, it is also opening up to new and original forms, thanks to the collaboration of graphic designers, artists, illustrators, and authors.
The exhibition brings together around 100 international works, with an emphasis on original photographic creation, in order to highlight this heritage, its characteristics and its contemporary dimensions. Women photographers have played a major role in the history of children's photobooks, at the intersection of two fields long perceived as feminine: education and children's portraiture. This dynamic triggered the emergence in the 1970s of a new publishing genre dedicated to shaping children's perspectives.
L is for Look also provides an opportunity to find out what goes on behind the scenes of creating photobooks, from the shoots to the original mock-ups of the works on display. Designed in collaboration with the mediation departments, the exhibition includes books available for consultation and interactive experiences designed for young and old alike.
After its initial presentation at Photo Elysée in the fall of 2025, L is for Look will embark on a European tour that will continue until 2028 at the Institut pour la photographie in Lille, after taking in five partner institutions: the Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Rencontres de la photographie d'Arles, the Photographers' Gallery in London, the Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA) in Luxembourg, and Foto Arsenal in Vienna.
Scientific Committee
Paul Cottin, advisor to the PoBoC association dedicated to children’s photo books
Rose Durr, PhD candidate (CIFRE) in anthropology and history of photography at the Institute for Photography, Lille
Florian Ebner, Head of the Photography Department, Centre Pompidou, Paris
Anne Lacoste, Director of the Institute for Photography, Lille
Coordination for Photo Elysée
Lydia Dorner, Manuel Sigrist
Exhibition design, furniture and production
Marion Ambrozy, Nicolas Cuvillier, Chloé Dardennes, Matthias Jancel (Institute for Photography)
Mediation concept
Chloé Andrieu (Photo Elysée), Mylène Carrière (CNA), Agnes Einem (Foto Arsenal Vienna), Noé Kieffer (Institute for Photography), Janice McLaren (The Photographers’ Gallery), Sébastien Thiltges (CNA)
Exhibition design and graphic design
Ina Kwon, Helmut Völter
Printing
MakroArt
Translations
Philipp Albers, Flavia Ambrosetti, Simon Cowper, Valentine Leÿs, Markus Sedlaczek
Executive production and scientific direction
Institute for Photography, Hauts-de-France
Coproduction
Institute for Photography, Hauts-de-France and Photo Elysée, Lausanne
The exhibition is supported by the Fondation Coromandel, the Fondation Bru, and the Federal Office of Culture.
