Bettina Rheims' Studio

To preserve the memory of this unique place where Bettina Rheims lived and worked, the Institut pour la photographie has launched a virtual tour project that allows visitors to explore the photographer’s world. 

In the 1980s, Bettina Rheims moved into the former home and studio of Argentine sculptor Alicia Penalba, in the heart of the Marais neighborhood in Paris, where she would take most of her photographs. 

A true living space, this large duplex apartment—with its inner courtyard—combines social areas, a photo studio, and rooms for everything from model preparation to retouching. It is in her office that the work on the images takes shape, with its extensive library and glass-roofed area for reviewing prints. Spaces have been set aside to house her entire archive. Before the collection is moved, this iconic site in the photographer’s career is the focus of a unique project. 

The Institut pour la photographie is launching the first virtual tour of a photographer’s studio to preserve a record of this creative space. The virtual tour will also be available online very soon on the Institut pour la photographie’s website, enhanced with new content and showcasing the Institut pour la photographie’s research on the photographer’s archives.