William Klein. Revisiting New York

Published in Paris by Éditions du Seuil in 1956, William Klein's New York is now considered one of the great classics of photography publishing. Noticed from the moment it was released and awarded the Nadar Prize in France, the book enjoyed an international career, influencing several generations of photographers through the originality of its layout and the punchy nature of its images. In 1995, forty years after the first edition, Klein decided to offer a new version, completely rethinking the layout and partially modifying the selection of images. Shortly before his death, he chose once again to delve into this New York period, from which he would draw a final portfolio bringing together the 333 photographs used for the 1956 and 1995 editions of New York.

As one of the last major projects to which the artist devoted himself, this unprecedented body of work testifies to the way in which Klein constantly revisited this major work throughout his life. Presented in 2027, the exhibition extends the celebrations of the centenary of William Klein's birth, celebrated in 2026. Based on this unpublished collection, William Klein. Revisiting New York is the first exhibition exclusively dedicated to the images of the city that Klein created in a few months, from the end of 1954 to the spring of 1955.

These were practically my first "real photos." I had no training, no hang-ups. By necessity and by choice, I decided to use whatever happened. No taboos: grain, contrast, blur, accidents, out of frame, just as it came.

Encouraged by Vogue's art director, Alexander Liberman, to come to work in New York, the young William Klein, then a painter, graphic designer, and photographer, a New Yorker living in Paris since 1947, returned to his hometown. "After eight years of absence, I wanted to keep a photographic diary of this return. These were practically my first 'real photos.' I had no training, no hang-ups. By necessity and by choice, I decided to use whatever happened. No taboos: grain, contrast, blur, accidents, out of frame, just as it came," he recalled in 1995.

While the result was considered much too experimental to be published in the pages of Vogue, it served as the basis for a book that Klein began to design, during his stay, in the very offices of the magazine, using a new tool for him: the photocopier. Enlarging the images and cropping them, he conceived a layout inspired as much by the popular press of the time as by American comics.

Fueled by numerous original documents from the artist's studio, the exhibition will be an opportunity to rediscover certain icons of the history of 20th-century photography, but also to truly discover a large number of other shots that the very tight and abundant layout of the 1956 edition made difficult to see. It will thus offer an unprecedented re-reading of New York, in all its artistic, documentary, and experimental dimensions.