French author Annie Ernaux, winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature, writes of her desire to “describe reality as through the eyes of a photographer and to preserve the mystery and opacity of the lives I encountered.”

Curator Lou Stoppard’s exhibition “Exteriors—Annie Ernaux & Photography” (at La Maison européenne de la photographie, now through 26 May) traces this close relationship between Ernaux’s autobiographical prose and the medium of photography. She juxtaposes passages from Ernaux’s book Exteriors—a collage of observations and reflections on the streets, shops, and public transportation networks of Cergy-Pontoise—with an array of photographs from the museum’s collection.

Stoppard will appear in conversation with writer and journalist Lauren Collins.

The program is produced in collaboration with la Maison européenne de la photographie and art book publisher MACK, which has released a book accompanying the exhibition.

Please note that while in-person registration to this event is now full, registration to attend on Zoom is still available.

About the speakers:

Lou Stoppard is a British writer and curator.  She has written for The Financial Times, Aperture, The New York Times and The New Yorker. Her books include a survey of the work of street photographer Shirley Baker, published by Mack in 2019, ‘Pools’, an exploration of swimming in photography, published by Rizzoli in 2020, and Exteriors: Annie Ernaux and Photography, published by Mack in 2024, to time with an exhibition of the same name at MEP, Paris.

Lauren Collins began contributing to The New Yorker in 2003 and became a staff writer in 2008. Her subjects have included Michelle Obama, Donatella Versace, the graffiti artist Banksy, Emmanuel Macron, the refugee crisis, and equal pay. Since 2015, she has been based in Paris, covering stories mainly from France. She is the author of “When in French: Love in a Second Language,” which the Times named as one of its 100 Notable Books of 2016. She is working on a second book, about a coup d’état perpetrated by white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1898, and its effects over the past hundred and twenty years.

This event is in partnership with the Maison Européenne de la Photographie. 

Learn more:

You can check out Stoppard’s exhibition on Annie Ernaux & Photography yourself by visiting the MEP before 6 May 2024.

In 2020, Stoppard edited a photography collection called Pools, bringing together a dazzling array of contemporary photographs featuring poolside parties, submerged swimmers, and other pool-related objects and events. You can peruse a preview of the book (or order a copy of your own) here.

Lauren Collins has appeared at the Library several times, both as a guest and as a moderator for our programs. You can watch a recording of her presenting her memoir When in French: Love in a Second Language at the Library here.

Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (the speakers will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.

Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.