Many of the artists were active in various fields of photography, but also artistic work. Some of them, like the Romanian (later French citizen) Eli Lotar, only turned to photography for a few years (1927-1937), others, for example Florence Henri or Cartier-Bresson, devoted themselves to painting in later years, Brassai, on the other hand, was active in parallel in various fields (writer, sculptor, painter, photographer). The photographers often worked for the magazines "Vogue", "Vu", "Harper's Bazaar", "Paris Match" and "Look", which were created in the twenties to name the work for famous photo agencies like "Magnum" and "Rapho".

The selection of photos illustrates the diverse spectrum of photography in the past century. Paris is at the centre of attention. Lively artistic photography developed here as early as the 19th century. As the centre of art, the city on the Seine has repeatedly attracted artists from all over the world. But political events in the twenties and thirties also contributed to the growth of the international artist scene around Montmartre. Brassai (Gyula Halasz), André Kertesz, and Ergy Landau belonged to the so-called Hungarian colony. Izis (Israel Bidermanas) was a native of Lithuania, Germaine Krull and Gisèle Freund moved to Paris from Germany. The Americans Man Ray, William Klein and, later, Nancy Wilson-Pajic also came to France, animated and fascinated by the atmosphere of the city and the artistic possibilities. The photographer Keiichi Tahara, who was born in Kyoto, Japan, has also been active in Paris and other parts of the country since 1973.

Photographers: Brassai (Gyula Halasz), Edouard Boubat, Pierre Boucher, Marcel Bovis, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Patrick Faigenbaum, Pierre de Fenoyl, Alain Fleischer, Gisèle Freund, Raoul Hausmann, Florence Henri, Izis (Israel Bidermanas), Pierre Jahan, René-Jacques (René Giton), Tore Yngve Johnson, André Kertesz, William Klein, Bogdan Konopka, Germaine Krull, Ergy Landau (Erzsi Landau), Eli Lotar (Eliazar Lotar Teodorescu), Daniel Masclet, Bernard Plossu, Man Ray (Emmanuel Rudnitzky), Willy Ronis, Georges Rousse, Albert Seeberger, Jean Seeberger, Keiichi Tahara, Nancy Wilson-Pajic