Related stories

Muslim Cuisine at Its Best Beijing Seeks Best of the Best for Olympics French Animation in All Its Glory Best of Trad-Japanese at Appetizing Prices Beijing Seeks Best of the Best for 2008 Ceremonies

French Photography at its Best

The opening ceremony for Object Pairs, a travelling photographic exhibition of 88 framed works sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Department of Paris, took place at the Capital Library on March 18. It will close on April 12. Object Pairs is a history of Paris from the Universal Exhibition in 1900 up to the present day as seen through the lenses of some of the world's greatest photographers. They include the legendary Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jean Auvigne, Marc Riboud, Edouard Bouhat, Brassai, and Keiichi Tahara.

As with Beijing in Paris in January 2004, the City of Paris and Beijing municipality co-sponsored this exhibition in celebration of the Year of France in China. It was organized by Beijing Foreign Exchanges Center.

The photographs were selected from five large municipal collections: the historical library of the city of Paris, Carnavalet Museum, Museum of Modern Art, the European Museum of Photography, and Municipal Collections of Contemporary Art.

Scores of visitors to Object Pairs took their own photos in front of the famous "Painter of the Eiffel Tower, Paris," captured by Marc Riboud in 1953.