Given the important role of Paris in the field of intellectual and artistic creation, the City's Grands Prix are designed to encourage talent and contribute to the development of the arts nationally and internationally.

The prizes are awarded by the City for works in fields as varied as sculpture, painting, literature, music, photography... to artists mainly working in France..

The winners are chosen by independent juries formed by well-known personalities : critics, specialists, researchers, artists, together with representatives from the Paris Council.

By creating the Grand Prix de la Photographie in 1981, the City of Paris deliberately enhanced the status of photography as an art form. The following photographers have been honoured : Roméo Martinez (1981), Maurice Tabard (1983), Jean Dieuzaide (1985), Denis Brihat (1987), Helmut Newton (1989), Sebastião Salgado (1991), Pierre et Gilles (1993), Bettina Rheims (1994) et Keiichi Tahara (1995).