Twelve years after allowing JR—then unknown—to paste portraits on the wall of its entrance, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie granted him a carte blanche from November 6, 2018, to February 10, 2019. This exhibition offered an opportunity to take stock of the artist’s journey and to present his work in an unprecedented way in France. JR applies a precise framework and discipline to his work. His creative approach—formal, close to mechanical—coincides with a deeply personal vision of what bodies and stories become when they come together to form History.

The book reflects this retrospective, exploring the mechanics of the image in JR’s work. Its production employs various printing techniques, binding methods, and paper transparencies. Four members of Oulipo, the group of writers and mathematicians founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais, contribute texts that resonate with JR’s work throughout the edition. Those who define themselves as “rats who build the labyrinth they propose to escape from” thus add an additional dimension to the book.

The volume opens with two texts by Dominique Bertinotti and Jean-Luc Monterosso. Photographs of the in situ portion were taken by Olivier Culmann (Tendance Floue).