LVH Art in Conversation with Matthieu Humery, The Pioneering Curator Shaping the Future of Photography

This month, LVH had the pleasure of speaking with renowned photography specialist and curator Matthieu Humery. His multifaceted career—spanning museums, auction houses, and private collections—is rooted in his exceptional expertise in photography, his expert eye, and an unwavering drive to innovate and push the boundaries of curatorial practice. Whether curating an exhibition, spotlighting emerging photographers, or offering fresh perspectives on familiar works, his approach consistently seeks to uncover something new and challenge the viewer’s perception.

Matthieu Humery spoke with us about the landmark exhibitions he has curated, how to start collecting photography, the most meaningful works in his personal collection, the growing momentum of the photography market, and more. His words and work invite you to appreciate photography in a way few others have, offering a compelling case for why it deserves the same recognition and respect as any other art form.

From 2001 to 2005, Humery worked in the photography department at Phillips auction house in Paris and New York, where he revolutionized the sales catalogue format, achieving remarkable success. In 2007, he became head of the photography department at Christie’s in New York. He then joined the LUMA Foundation—founded in 2004 by Maja Hoffmann in Zurich. He currently serves as the director of the Living Archives program at the LUMA Foundation and is also a curator for the Pinault Collection.

Over the years, Humery has advised some of the world’s leading photography collectors and curated several of the most compelling photography exhibitions of the past decade. In 2021, he co-curated Henri Cartier-Bresson: Le Grand Jeu at Palazzo Grassi, offering a bold new interpretation of the legendary photographer’s work. In 2023, he returned to Palazzo Grassi to curate Chronorama, a major exhibition featuring photographs and illustrations from the Condé Nast archives. Recently, Humery curated Untroubled, the first exhibition of Irving Penn’s work in the Middle East, held at the Mina Image Centre in Beirut.

LVH Art: ⁠How did your passion for photography first begin?

Matthieu Humery: My passion for photography is part of a broader fascination with images in general. From an early age, I was captivated by the way a single image-whether a painting, a photograph, or a film still-could condense time, space, and emotion. I was drawn to composition, to the architecture of an image, how light, form, and framing come together to create meaning. My interest in cinema sparked a fascination with the way images move and unfold over time. Photography, for me, emerged as a bridge between painting and film— as a perfect balance between stillness and narrative. Over time, my interest extended beyond the photographs themselves to include studying how they are collected, preserved, and presented. That’s where my curatorial path began: from a desire to understand how images, and the ways they are collected, influence our perception of the world.

LVH Art: ⁠How do you feel the digital age has impacted the value and appreciation of photography as an art form?

Matthieu Humery: The truth is that photography has always evolved in direct dialogue with technological and technical innovation. I would even say that this is its very nature. And it’s precisely this adaptability that has often led people to question whether photography is truly “art,” or whether it’s losing its artistic status in the face of constant transformation. But to me, it’s quite the opposite. It is the very instability and constant transformation of photography that are what make it so vital and engaging.

From the very beginning, photography was about invention. The first images, like daguerreotypes, were unique, irreproducible objects. Then came the invention of the negative – first on paper, then on glass – which allowed for multiplication, enlargement, manipulation. Every major shift in the medium’s history – from analog to digital, and now to AI-generated imagery – has simply been a new chapter in the same story: photography as a medium constantly at the frontier of change.

Far from diminishing its value, these shifts have continually redefined what photography can be. They force us to ask: What is an image? What is authorship? What is real? In that sense, photography remains one of the most intellectually and artistically challenging forms of expression today – precisely because it never stops evolving.

LVH Art: ⁠What advice would you give to an art collector looking to acquire their first photograph for their collection?

Matthieu Humery: Even though you’re collecting photography, you’re not just collecting an image—you’re acquiring an object. A photograph is a work of art in its own right, and like any artwork, it has qualities such as materiality, history, rarity, condition which one needs to consider. The quality of the photograph- its paper, its tonal depth, its state of preservation, the date of the print – is fundamental. Otherwise, you might as well be collecting images on your phone.

Then there’s the important question of how images relate to one another. A collection is never a series of isolated works. Each photograph becomes a fragment of a larger narrative. In photography, perhaps more than in any other medium, the connections between images – formally, conceptually, historically – are incredibly rich. The way you build your collection can express a vision as coherent and personal as a curatorial project. So, trust your eye – but also think in terms of dialogue, not trophies.

LVH Art: What was the first photograph you ever purchased as part of your collection?

Matthieu Humery: The first photograph I ever bought was a beautiful three-quarter oval portrait of the painter Gustave Doré, taken by Étienne Carjat in the early 1860s. I was immediately drawn to the idea of one artist being portrayed by another – of a photographer capturing a painter. It brings up questions that intrigue me, such as, do a painter or a photographer approach a portrait in similar ways? Also, in the image the codes of the pose were subtly subverted, as the image hovered between homage and invention. That photograph sparked a deeper curiosity about how photography represents artists, and how it borrows – and transforms – the conventions of other mediums. I ended up exploring these themes more thoroughly, particularly through the photographs of Eugène Disdéri, who invented the carte-de-visite portrait format around the same period.

LVH Art: ⁠Is there a particular photograph that holds special significance for you in your collection?

Matthieu Humery: I mostly collect portraits, and the photograph that’s closest to my heart is probably Edward Steichen’s portrait of Gary Cooper from 1928. As a teenager, I had found a poster of a Whitney Museum exhibition on Steichen at a flea market, with that very image on it. I remember being struck by its absolute modernity – both in the pose and in the intensity of the figure. Years later, coming across the original print and being able to acquire it felt almost unreal, like a quiet sign from the past.

What made it even more meaningful is that, much later, I had the opportunity to curate Chronorama at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, drawn from the Condé Nast archives – exactly where that portrait originated. It was as if the photograph had been following me through time.

LVH Art: How do you go about making decisions when adding new photographs to your collection?

Matthieu Humery: Whether it’s for my own collection or for those I advise, I try to follow the “inner logic” of the collection, which the collector may have formed unconsciously. It always begins with the relationships between images, then between groups of images. Often, the collection ultimately reflects the owner’s story and sensibilities. When I’m not buying for myself, I try to become a kind of chameleon. I step into the mindset of the collector. One dreams in images, and my role is to dream on behalf of someone else. That shift allows me to see photographs from angles I wouldn’t have considered on my own.

Of course, beyond that, I always look at the photograph as an object – the date of the print, its paper, dimensions, condition. The materiality matters. An image must resonate – but it must also hold up, physically and historically.

LVH Art: Who are some contemporary photographers whose work you admire, and what is it about their work that resonates with you?

Matthieu Humery: There are several, but a few stand out. I greatly admire Deana Lawson, whose work I recently had the privilege of presenting in France for the first time at the Bourse de Commerce, as part of a group exhibition titled ‘Body and Soul’. What fascinates me in her practice is its hybridity – she works with a very specific methodology, often using large-format cameras. She also interrogates the various uses of photography – vernacular, sacred, constructed- to build her own language. Her images are both meticulously composed and deeply symbolic.

Wolfgang Tillmans is another key figure for me. He opened the door to a diverse range of photographic language nearly forty years ago, and he remains highly relevant today. Both in his conceptual thinking and in the way he presents images, he exhibits a freedom and bravery that remain inspiring.

I’m also very drawn to Frida Orupabo’s work. Her use of collage works beautifully with many of the themes her work speaks to, such as fragmentation, history, and identity. And, in a different register, I find the work of Anhar Salem – recent winner of the Reiffers Art Initiatives prize – compelling. Unlike Orupabo’s work, Salem crafts images by blending various other images, frequently using AI to build a unique form of visual mythology. It’s fascinating to see how these two artists explore the body and image-making through such different yet equally powerful means.

LVH Art: ⁠Can you discuss how in 2002, you changed the way catalogues were presented at Phillips auction house? What changes did you make, and why did you believe it was the best approach?

Matthieu Humery: When I arrived at Phillips in 2002, I had no prior experience in the auction world. My background was in fashion and runway production. So, I approached the catalogue not from a traditional auction perspective, but from a visual and editorial one. I asked myself: how do we make this object more seductive? How do we stand out from our competitors?

It was clear to me that the look and feel of the catalogue had to change. The catalogue couldn’t just be a neutral sales tool – it had to be an extension of the work itself. So, we changed the format, enlarged it, redesigned the layout, refined the paper stock, gave more space to the images, and introduced short essays. It was about giving the works the editorial dignity they deserved. And it worked. That bold format made us immediately more visible in a crowded market. So much so that the large-format catalogue approach was quickly adopted across other departments at Phillips.

LVH Art: ⁠How has the photography market evolved over the years?

Matthieu Humery: The photography market has changed enormously and developed relatively late. It wasn’t really until the 1970s that auction houses began to structure photography sales in a serious way – thanks in large part to pioneering figures like Philippe Garner or Harry Lunn. Before that, the market was small, almost confidential. Even the major museums were making few purchases, and when they did, it was for relatively small amounts—MoMA, for example, was acquiring works by Lee Friedlander and Diane Arbus for about $200.

Over time, the market gradually organized itself around key names from the 19th and 20th centuries. The great collections were formed – many of which have since entered institutions and remain there. What’s also particular about photography collectors is that they tend to be deeply passionate, often emotionally attached to their works, and they rarely sell individual prints. As a result, the availability of major vintage prints from the 19th and 20th centuries has dramatically decreased. These works now often change hands privately, and increasingly as part of full collections rather than single works.

For contemporary photography, the dynamics are different. Competing with painting on the primary market is difficult—pricing, visibility, and fashion trends all play a role. But photography, like everything in art, moves in cycles. It’s a medium that is uniquely responsive to the present, and that gives it a timeless relevance.

LVH Art: ⁠Are there any photography fairs or photography-related events you would recommend for someone interested in immersing themselves in the world of photography?

Matthieu Humery: I’m not fond of isolating photography from other mediums—I’ve always preferred it as part of the broader art conversation. That’s why I appreciate seeing strong photography presentations at art fairs like Art Basel, TEFAF or Frieze, as it is there where it resonates most through its dialogue with other forms.

That said, there are of course dedicated events that are essential. Paris Photo remains the annual gathering point—it’s the most established and comprehensive fair devoted entirely to photography. And then there’s photo festival Les Rencontres d’Arles, which in my view, is the most intelligent and daring photography festival in the world, which offers a truly comprehensive exploration of the medium. Arles invites you to slow down, to spend time with the image, providing a richer form of engagement and connection.

LVH Art: In 2020, you curated Henri Cartier-Bresson: Le Grand Jeu at Palazzo Grassi, a show that later traveled to the BnF in Paris in 2021. For this exhibition, you invited five leaders from different fields to each select around 50 works from the archive, presenting five distinct visions on the collection. What motivated you to involve such a range of perspectives?

Matthieu Humery: For Le Grand Jeu, I wanted to move away from the format of a traditional monographic exhibition. Two major and beautifully curated retrospectives had already taken place, at the Centre Pompidou in 2014 with Clément Chéroux, and at MoMA in 2010 with Peter Galassi. Rather than offering yet another narrative about Cartier-Bresson’s life and work, I was more interested in exploring how his work is perceived – how it’s understood, interpreted, even projected upon. The idea wasn’t to define his oeuvre, but to open it up, to liberate it from any singular, official reading.

Cartier-Bresson himself had selected a group of 385 prints that he considered representative of his life’s work – the so-called Master Collection. Starting from that selection, I asked five individuals to create their own exhibitions, each choosing around 50 images. In a way, it became a project about perception: Cartier-Bresson shaping his own legacy, and others responding to it in turn.

The five participants each embodied a distinct point of view: François Pinault as the collector, Sylvie Aubenas as the museum curator, Annie Leibovitz as the photographer, Javier Cercas as the writer, and Wim Wenders as the filmmaker. Each brought not only their professional lens, but also something deeply personal. What emerged was a kind of curatorial mirror, an exhibition that reflected just as much about Cartier-Bresson as it did about the people interpreting him.

I’m drawn to that kind of layered perspective when curating—the goal is to create a space where an artist’s work can breathe, resonate, and generate new meaning, rather than simply be explained.

LVH Art: ⁠⁠In 2023, you curated the Chronorama exhibition at Palazzo Grassi, which showcased photographs and illustrations from the Condé Nast archives, that had been recently acquired by the Pinault Collection. As a curator, how would you define your primary responsibilities in terms of both presenting and preserving such an extensive archive?

Matthieu Humery: When I first began working on the Condé Nast archive, I was struck not only by its scale, but by its extraordinary richness and diversity. The range of genres that makes up the archive is exceptional: portraiture, fashion, architecture, still life, reportage… All the major photographic languages of the 20th century are represented. Then came the historical realisation: nearly every great photographer of the 20th century worked at some point for Condé Nast. The archive is not simply a record of editorial history – it’s a mirror of the century itself. And finally, the great quality of the prints themselves.

I realised this is no ordinary press archive. The Condé Nast collection carries a greater significance—it’s part of our shared cultural heritage and reflected the evolution of the modern gaze. From the moment I began working on the acquisition with the Pinault Collection, I felt strongly that this archive needed to be shared with the public – not just as documentation, but as a living history. That intuition led to Chronorama, which at its core was an exhibition that attempted to reveal the diversity of the archive, as well as to let singular photographs speak for themselves. The aim was to offer viewers an editorial, artistic, and emotional interpretation of the 20th century through the lens of this archive.