Clément Chéroux (born 1970) is a French photography historian and curator whose work bridges the academic study of photography and institutional exhibition practice. Since taking up the post of Chief Curator of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, he has been a defining voice in how photography is presented, interpreted, and historicized within a major museum context. Before MoMA, he held senior curatorial positions at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, giving him a transatlantic outlook that has shaped his expansive approach to the medium.

Chéroux’s intellectual project often examines photography through the lenses of visual rhetoric, archival structures, and the interplay between vernacular and fine art traditions. He has consistently foregrounded the ways photographs operate as documents and performances rather than mere records, encouraging viewers to question the evidentiary authority of the image. His curatorial method favors thematic provocation over linear chronology, assembling disparate works to explore how photographic practices are embedded in social, political, and technological histories. This distinguishes him from peers who often prioritize aesthetic autonomy or biographical narrative.

Among his most recognized contributions are the many exhibitions and books he has supervised across institutions. He collaborated with Quentin Bajac on projects that earned them the Prix Nadar, France’s most prestigious photography book award, underscoring his committed engagement with the photobook as a vital form of expression. His writing regularly addresses themes such as the archaeology of photographic processes, the role of copies, and the migration of images across media. At the Centre Pompidou, he helped integrate a more rigorous methodological framework into the museum’s photography programming, while his later work in San Francisco and New York extended this critical lens to American collections.

Chéroux’s position at MoMA places him at the center of canon formation in photography. His curatorial and publishing choices influence which artists and themes gain institutional legitimacy and market attention, making his work particularly consequential for collectors. For photobook enthusiasts, his ability to conceptualize exhibitions as narrative sequences often translates into catalogs that themselves become noteworthy objects, designed and produced with scholarly depth. His recent projects continue to stress the book’s physical and editorial properties, offering entry points for both newcomers and seasoned collectors. While his emphasis on conceptual framing has occasionally drawn debate from those who prefer a more straightforward presentation of artworks, his career reflects a sustained effort to expand the field’s intellectual horizons without losing sight of the medium’s material specificity.

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