First times / First photos
Until November 1, 2026, the Pavillon Populaire in Montpellier presents the exhibition "First Times / First Photographs." Dedicated to nearly two centuries of photographic innovation, it brings together more than 200 photographs, objects, and archival documents. For this occasion, the INPI (French National Institute of Industrial Property) is lending nearly 80 original documents from its historical archives—patents and trademarks—which bear witness to the inventive spirit that has accompanied photography since its beginnings.
Patents and trademarks at the heart of the history of photography
The exhibition offers a journey through the "first times" of photography: first attempts, first images that became iconic, or even first technical innovations.
The journey also highlights the economic and industrial challenges that accompanied these inventions, as well as the strategies implemented by inventors and manufacturers to protect their creations and distinguish their products through industrial property.
Within the sequences "Birth certificates: photographic patents" and "First words. Photography without counterfeiting", the INPI archives reveal the extraordinary diversity of innovations related to photography.
The Institute has thus identified more than 4 photographic patents filed in the 000th century. While these testify to the ingenuity of inventors from all walks of life (physicists, opticians, artists, cabinetmakers or even physiologists…), the brands themselves tell the story of a rapidly expanding industry marked by an overflowing imagination (“The Sun”, “The Star”, “The Marvelous”, “The Incredible”…).
Nearly 80 documents loaned by the INPI, most of them revealed to the public for the first time
The loan from the INPI includes, in particular, the photo-velocipede tripod, a patent filed in 1891 for attaching a camera to a bicycle; the trademark for Ferro-Prussiate Paper, an early form of photocopying; and a patent for a surgical prosthesis illustrated by a photograph. These documents, along with numerous other archival items, demonstrate the richness of the Institute's collections.
Through these archives, the exhibition reveals that photography is the product of countless experiments, technical improvements, and sometimes unusual ideas. As Luce Lebart, independent artistic director in charge of the Pavillon Populaire's artistic programming and curator of the exhibition, points out: "From the 'photocyclist' to the 'phototrap,' the ingenious patents and quirky trademarks will delight and surprise visitors."
