Institut français de recherche sur le Japon à la Maison franco-japonaise (Umifre 19, MEAE-CNRS)

Special 100th Anniversary Photography Exhibition

24 Heures du Mans:
To the Limit - and Beyond (1967 - 1971)

June 8 to 22, 2023 | Monday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00

Free entrance

24 Heures du Mans: To the Limit - and Beyond (1967 - 1971) by Joe Honda brings to life the people, marques and memories that have shaped one of the most iconic endurance races in the world as it marks its centenary. 

Established in 1923 as a "Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency", Le Mans allowed car manufacturers to prove the durability of their machines in competition. The endurance race - famous for its legacy of brutally testing drivers and their teams - has one condition for victory: the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours is the winner.

An exhibition of Joe Honda's photographs - held in parallel at the Maison Franco-Japonaise and Fuji Motorsports Museum - reflects back on the "golden age" of Le Mans, marked by the final years of the dramatic Ford-Ferrari duel, until the Porsche's new contender, the 917, arrived on the scene. 

By transporting the viewer back to these years when Europe faced off against America, Honda's photography commemorates some of the people and technology that played a crucial role in shaping the course of today's global automotive industry.

Joe Honda, born in 1939 in Tokyo, is known as Asia's father of motorsport photography. In 1967, he traveled to Europe to document the global motorsport scene and became the first Asian regional representative of the International Racing Press Association (IRPA). His images - captured over close to five decades - range from the visceral to the purely functional, immortalizing the raw experiences, developments and memories of the international world of motorsport through one artist's perspective.

◎Entrance for the exhibition at Maison franco-japonaise is free.

◎Click here to see the exhibition at the Fujimoter Sports Museum held at the same time (article in Japanese)