Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin… Elton John exhibits 300 photographs taken from his vast collection at the Jeu de Paume in Paris

Taken between 1950 and the present day, these celebrity portraits, fashion images and press photos are presented from this Friday until September 27 at the Jeu de Paume.

Nan Goldin, Diane Arbus, Irving Penn… Singer Elton John will be exhibiting his passion for photography from Friday in Paris through 300 photos taken from his collection built up over 30 years.

These celebrity portraits, fashion images and press photos, taken between 1950 and the present day, are on display until September 27 at the Jeu de Paume, after being shown at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2024.

Created with her husband, director and producer David Furnish, this collection was started in 1991 by the singer, when he had just completed rehab. “The world seemed (then) very different to him,” says Duncan Forbes, curator of the exhibition entitled “Fragile Beauty”.

“He has always been photographed a lot, which he probably hated. Now, he wants to know more about the history of this medium,” continues the commissioner.

D’Elvis Presley à Marilyn Monroe

The collection of the 79-year-old artist currently includes more than 7,000 photographs, including 17 new acquisitions presented in Paris.

Among the themes covered are beauty and male desire, widely explored by photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the context of the gay rights movement in the United States, starting in the 1970s.

In addition to portraits, including those of Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Marilyn Monroe, photojournalism also occupies an important place in the collection, with photos of the civil rights movement in the United States, the September 11 attacks and the war in Ukraine and Gaza.

The exhibition also honors the American Nan Goldin with 149 photographs of her work “Thanksgiving”, presented for the first time in France and which covers 26 years of the artist’s life through intimate images of those close to her.