In 2026, photography celebrates the bicentenary of its first experiments. On this occasion, the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (INJA-Louis Braille) is opening its photographic collection to the public for the first time and, from 5 to 28 November 2026, presents the exhibition “Des aveugles. The INJA Photographic Collection”.
Two histories that begin almost at the same moment The history of photography begins, paradoxically, with a relief object. In 1827, Nicéphore Niépce made one of the first photographic images by coating a metal plate with bitumen of Judea. Two years earlier, in 1825, Louis Braille invented the writing system that would allow blind people to access reading and writing. As a new visual medium developed and the photographic image steadily established itself in society, INJA-Louis Braille was also transforming at the pace of medical, pedagogical, technical and social change. Bringing these two histories together raises essential questions: what can photography tell us about those who cannot see? Why photograph blind and visually impaired people? What do the images say about their era, about its prejudices, and also about the changing way visual impairment has been regarded? These are just some of the subjects explored in the exhibition “Des aveugles. The INJA Photographic Collection”. From institutional photography to everyday images Housed in INJA-Louis Braille's former linen room, the exhibition, on view from 5 to 28 November 2026, offers a thematic journey through the institution's photographic archives. The first images shown coincide with the rise of photographic studios under the Second Empire. Class photographs, portraits and institutional scenes reveal an establishment that is part of the history of the care and education of young blind people. The exhibition then presents vernacular photographs from the 1950s and 1960s: Christmas celebrations, end-of-year shows, costumes, moments of collective life… More spontaneous and joyful images that reveal the gradual evolution in how blind people are represented, far beyond institutional portrayals alone. The journey continues into the 1980s, when the author Hervé Guibert visited INJA, both to feed the work that would appear a few years later and to meet students he helped prepare for the baccalaureate over the course of a school year. Finally, the exhibition looks back at the work of Jacques Bondon, who photographed the daily lives of blind people in the 1980s. His work, awarded the prestigious Prix Niépce, shows classrooms, celebrations, caregivers and various moments of life. This is the first exhibition of this series since 1981. The ensemble is completed thanks to an exceptional loan from the musée Nicéphore Niépce. A closer look at the link between Hervé Guibert and INJA-Louis Braille Hervé Guibert's connection to the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles goes beyond that of a writer who came to observe a place. In June 1983, he published an article devoted to INJA-Louis Braille in Le Monde. In September 1983, Guibert became a reader for two students for a school year. One of the students was interviewed in preparation for this exhibition.) In parallel, he wrote the novel Des aveugles, a work of fiction published in 1985. Through his experience as a reader, then through his writing, Guibert did not merely represent blind people: he entered their daily lives and built with them a relationship that transformed his own gaze. His work bears witness to an era in which the representation of visual impairment could become a literary and intimate subject. An exhibition marking the bicentenary of photography The exhibition is part of the programming for the bicentenary of photography 2026–2027, led by the Ministry of Culture, and of PhotoSaintGermain, a photography event that every year takes over the Left Bank in Paris through exhibitions presented in galleries and cultural institutions. Following a first exhibition organized at INJA-Louis Braille in 2025 with the artist Sixtine de Thé, this new project marks a further step in opening the institution and its collections to the public. Through its archives, INJA-Louis Braille thus tells its own story: that of its creation, its establishment and then its move to Duroc, but also that of several generations of students and professionals who have kept the institution alive. By bringing historical archives and more contemporary photographs into dialogue, the exhibition invites visitors to move beyond a purely medical or institutional view of visual impairment and to take an interest in its representation in culture and society. Practical information “Des aveugles. The INJA Photographic Collection” at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, 56 boulevard des invalides, Paris. Free exhibition. From 5 to 28 November 2026. Opening reception on 5 November 2026, free. With the support of the Fondation Antoine de Galbert.
Source: paris.fr — photo: INJA