Exhibition guide

From June to September 2026 and on the occasion of William Klein's centenary, the MEP is paying tribute to him through an exceptional cinematographic retrospective, produced in partnership with Studio William Klein. The cycle of projections continues with a display of photographs from the MEP collections, as well as graphic works and books, displayed in the spaces.

Visit details

  • Dates: From Wednesday June 10, 2026 to Sunday September 13, 2026:
  • Venue: Maison Européenne de la Photographie, 5 rue de fourcy, Paris
  • Price: De 0 à 14 euros.
  • Audience: All audiences
  • Source: Event page

About the exhibition

MEP has enjoyed a close relationship with William Klein and his studio for many years. Since its opening in 1996, it has devoted several major exhibitions to him and today maintains one of the most important collections of his work, with more than 300 pieces - photographs, films and books.

William Klein, photographer, painter and filmmaker, has profoundly shaken up the codes of the image. Through this major retrospective, retracing his entire career, the MEP pays homage to a hybrid and extraordinary work - a cinema that is both recognized and underground, which has never allowed itself to be confined.

From June and until September 2026, from Wednesday to Saturday at the end of the day, the MEP will present, in its auditorium, the great classics of the artist (Who are you Polly Maggoo?, Muhammad Ali the Greatest, Mr Freedom…), but also rare films, some of which have never been seen before (Charlotte's Birthday, The Little Richard Story…), as well as numerous archives.

By bringing together the different facets of a work which tirelessly attacked powers and conventions, breaking down the masks with jubilant freedom, this retrospective reveals all the contemporaneity of William Klein's outlook.

Klein always remained faithful to himself. It is also with the desire to remain faithful to the tumult that he loved to capture “hand on” that this retrospective was conceived. The retrospective is accompanied by a hanging of a selection of photographic works by William Klein, preserved at the MEP.