After a successful debut at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection has opened at Paris’ Jeu de Paume arts centre.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost private photography collections, the exhibition presentsmore than 300 photographs selected from 7,000 works gathered by the couple over 30 years.
Some critics have described the show as a passage through time that tracing the development of photography from the 1950s to the present day.
Sir Elton John began collecting photography in 1991, drawn to the medium’s ability to capture reality with unmatched honesty.
“I love painters, I love artwork, I collect paintings, but for me nothing speaks the truth more like a photograph – and David Hockney would kill me for saying that but I’m sorry, I’m right,” he said when the exhibition was first presented in London.
That passion was soon picked up and shared with his husband. “When Elton and I met, the first night down here in Windsor, one of the things we immediately found we had in common was our love of photography,” David Furnish recalled. “I had the coffee table books of the photographs and Elton actually had some of the photographs.”
Produced by the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Paris exhibition explores photography through five themes — desire, celebrity, fashion, reportage and the affirmation of identity. It reveals how images can document private lives as well as social and political change.
The exhibition features works by more than 90 international photographers and offers a sweeping overview of modern and contemporary photography. Among them are Robert Mapplethorpe, Herb Ritts, Nan Goldin, Diane Arbus, William Klein, Ryan McGinley, Ai Weiwei, Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, alongside photographs by Eve Arnold, Herman Leonard, Harley Weir, Susan Meiselas and many others.
A journey through modern photography
The exhibition also explores momentous events in history and portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Doris Day, jazz legend Chet Baker and charts the Civil Rights movement, the rise of LGBTQ+ communities, AIDS activism and political protest.
More recent works include Associated Press photographer Ethan Swope’s images of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in 2025. Together, they show how photography continues to capture defining moments of our time.
Although Elton John’s name may draw visitors through the door, Fragile Beauty is ultimately a celebration of photography itself. The exhibition highlights the medium’s ability to capture vulnerability, desire, resilience and identity, while documenting the people and events that have shaped the modern world.
Discover the Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris
The exhibition is hosted by Jeu de Paume, one of France’s leading institutions dedicated to photography and the moving image. Located in the Tuileries Gardens in central Paris, the museum explores photography, film and digital art, and has established itself as a space for critical reflection on the role images play in society.
For photography enthusiasts, “Fragile Beauty” offers the rare chance to see one of the world’s most important private collections brought together in a single exhibition. But the show is equally compelling for anyone interested in culture, history or contemporary society.
Fragile Beauty is on at Jeu de Paume in Paris until 24 September, 2026.