Two photography legends meet in one groundbreaking exhibition opening this July in Rabat.

Fez– On July 16, 2025, the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat will open a major new exhibition: Marc Riboud & Bruno Barbey: Regards Croisés. 

It’s a cultural moment that brings together, for the first time on Moroccan soil, two of the most influential photographers of the 20th century.

Marc Riboud and Bruno Barbey were both known for their ability to capture the emotional core of global events. 

Their lenses traveled across continents and conflicts, but always returned to the human condition. Riboud’s work is often described as lyrical, quiet, observational, deeply humane. 

Barbey’s, by contrast, is charged with color, complexity, and a unique sensitivity to place. What they shared, beyond the camera, was a belief that photography could be both witness and art.

Regards Croisés, or Crossed Perspectives, offers a rare visual dialogue between these two artists. 

Though their styles diverged, they often found themselves drawn to similar moments, revolutions, migrations, cultural shifts, offering complementary views on the world as it unfolded. 

The exhibition doesn’t simply place their works side by side. Instead, it weaves them together into a visual conversation, one shaped by time, by instinct, and by a deep respect for the power of images.

Organized by the National Foundation of Museums, in collaboration with the Association Les Amis de Marc Riboud and Madame Caroline Thiénot Barbey, the exhibition is further enriched by the exceptional participation of the Guimet Museum in Paris, France’s national museum of Asian arts. 

This partnership brings to Rabat an extraordinary selection of original prints, personal archives, and rarely seen works that span decades.

More than a retrospective, the exhibition invites viewers to look closely. To see how Barbey’s saturated Moroccan street scenes might echo Riboud’s quiet frames from Asia. 

To notice how both photographers, in different ways, approached subjects with empathy and restraint. Neither sensationalized what they saw. They observed, they listened, and they framed the world with patience.

Hosting this exhibition is another milestone for the Mohammed VI Museum, which continues to establish itself as one of the most ambitious art institutions in Africa. 

In recent years, it has positioned Rabat as a capital of cultural dialogue, not just through Moroccan and Arab art, but by opening space for global names and meaningful cross-border collaborations.

What makes Regards Croisés especially timely is its relevance in a world increasingly defined by polarization and speed. 

Riboud and Barbey worked in a slower era of photography, no digital bursts, no quick uploads, and yet their work feels more alive than ever. 

Their images remind us what it means to pay attention. To witness without judgment. To find dignity in the everyday.

This exhibition is not simply about two legendary photographers,it’s about two ways of seeing. And about how, even through different eyes, we sometimes arrive at the same truths.