JR is known for inserting giant photocopies of his works in the streets. He began his career as a photographer after finding a camera in the Paris metro that allowed him to document his work as a graffiti artist. He then produced portraits of his friends and acquaintances that he displayed inside and outside buildings. Observing the people he meets, he pastes their portraits in the streets, basements and on the roofs of Paris.

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JR deliberately pastes these photos in the upscale neighbourhoods of eastern Paris as a sign of social and political criticism. The artist is working on several projects, including Inside Out, a series of participatory photographs where hundreds of individual portraits are brought together to create large-scale images. His work is exhibited all over the world.

During certain exhibitions, he offers visitors their portraits on a poster thanks to a giant photographic booth. He employs about fifteen people and divides his working time between a studio in Paris and another in New York. He is very active on social networks.

In 2004, JR produced the exhibition Toit et moi, with the artist Prune Nourry.

From 2004 to 2006, he produced Portrait of a Generation, portraits of young people from the suburbs which he exhibited, in very large format, on the walls of the city of Bosquets in Montfermeil.

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In 2005, he took part in Kim Chapiron (Kourtrajmé) Sheitan's feature film, with Vincent Cassel as the set photographer, and met Shepard Fairey, Blu, Zevs, Blek le rat, Influenza, among others.

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In 2007, he produced Face 2 Face, “the biggest illegal photo exhibition ever created”. JR displayed huge portraits of Israelis and Palestinians face to face in eight Palestinian and Israeli cities and on either side of the security fence.

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In 2008, JR covered the exterior of the Morro da Providência favela in Rio de Janeiro with huge photos of women's faces and looks.

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In September 2010, at the invitation of the Omages Festival in Switzerland, JR began the Unframed project. For the first time, JR did not use his own photos but those of other artists. After obtaining the authorization of the various rights holders, JR enlarged photos of Robert Capa, Man Ray, Gilles Caron or Helen Levitt and applied them to the facades of buildings in Baden-Baden, Marseille, São Paulo, Grottaglie in Italy and Washington. DC.

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In April 2014, JR presented "Des Bosquets", a ballet he created in collaboration with the New York City Ballet. For his debut as a choreographer, he brought together 42 dancers on stage.

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In 2015, JR signed the film Ellis, a tribute to the immigrants who passed through Ellis Island53. This short film, written by Eric Roth, only has actor Robert De Niro.

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In March 2018, he participated in the decoration of the restaurant Reffetorio, which is the name of the solidarity restaurant which opened its doors on March 15 in Paris. One hundred meals concocted from unsold items were served to the poor, migrants, and the homeless.

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In 2019, he made an impression of the Louvre pyramid as if the pyramid came out of the ground.

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In 2020, he photographed 150 citizens of the Citizen's Climate Convention on the facade of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council62 and covered the Opéra Bastille with portraits of nursing staff.

The Class Art Biarritz gallery offers several serigraphs signed by JR.