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Usitour
Museum

The Family of the Man

📍 The Family of the Man, Clervaux, Luxembourg
The Family of the Man
1 photos
4.6/ 5.0
★★★★★

Introduction

The Family of Man is one of the most legendary exhibitions in photographic history. Curated by Edward Steichen of New York's Museum of Modern Art, it opened in 1955 and then toured dozens of countries to record-breaking attendance. Since 1994 the complete set of 503 photographs by 273 photographers has been permanently housed in Clervaux Castle, and in 2003 it was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register. Built around the shared journey of human life, from birth and labour to love and death, the images cross every culture and border and still hang quietly in place today.

✨ Highlights

1
Legendary Exhibition
Its 1955 premiere took the world by storm with record-breaking attendance.
2
503 Original Prints
Works by 273 photographers form a constellation of twentieth-century imagemaking.
3
Memory of the World
Inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 2003.
4
A Shared Human Story
Sequenced around birth, work, love and death, it builds empathy across every border.

🛈 Practical Info

→Best Season：Open all year; quieter in the autumn and winter off-season.
→Duration：About an hour; longer if you study each photograph.
→Tickets：Single or combined castle tickets; check official prices.
→Transport：Inside Clervaux Castle, a few minutes' walk from the station.
→Dining：The town's quiet cafes are perfect for reflecting afterwards.
→Viewing Note：Galleries are dim to protect the prints, and some areas forbid photography.

💡 Tips

• Walk the full sequence as curated; the closing images are the most overwhelming.
• Read up on Steichen's curatorial idea beforehand and the show gains a whole layer.
• Save this exhibition for last among the castle's three museums, to digest it slowly.
• Keep your voice low in the galleries; this is a place of photographic pilgrimage.

FAQ

Any practical tips for visiting The Family of the Man?

Walk the full sequence as curated; the closing images are the most overwhelming. Read up on Steichen's curatorial idea beforehand and the show gains a whole layer.

Information on this page is compiled from public sources. Opening hours, ticket prices and other details may change — please verify with official sources before your visit.