This year the Mois de la Photo du Grand Paris takes place in April and stretches to the greater Paris region : 96 exhibitions, 32 communes over three intense weekends.

Since its creation in 1980, the Mois de la Photo in Paris has generated a great popular interest and served as a model for photo festivals worldwide.

For the first time in April 2017, the Mois de la Photo¹s footprint will grow geographically to cover the "Grand Paris", this emerging concept aiming at easing the interaction through the suburban belt which has remained a real mental barrier since the 1960s.

96 exclusive exhibitions located in 32 communes are presented by art centres, galleries and public institutions.

They offer an international scope in which renowned artists stand alongside other lesser-known ones. The selection is made up of a large and unprecedented number of contemporary French photographers.

These exhibitions have been selected by François Hébel, former director of the Rencontres d¹Arles and Magnum Photos. He is the co-founder of the Foto/Industria festival in Bologna (Italy). The program illustrates the evolution of major photographic themes: portraits, landscapes, street and photography as raw material. Being close to the world¹s most beautiful city often makes it hard to garner interest in a land full of assets. Three Intense Weekends encourage mobility and opportunity of meeting people in the greater Paris area, an area where transformation has recently accelerated and where 11 million people live.

With its substantial program, open to a real profusion of different points of views on photography, the Mois de la Photo du Grand Paris 2017 hopes to embrace its modest civic duty and help to create fraternal bonds.