An exhibition of work by Marc Lagrange has opened at In The Pink in Loulé, bringing the Belgian photographer's images to the Algarve.

The show marks a rare opportunity for audiences in southern Portugal to see Lagrange's photography in person. In The Pink, a gallery and cultural space in Loulé, has built a programme that mixes photography with broader visual arts, and the Lagrange exhibition sits squarely within that curatorial identity.

Who was Marc Lagrange?

Lagrange, who died in 2015, was one of Belgium's most widely recognised photographic voices. He built his reputation on large-format, highly staged images — most famously his work with models, among them his longtime muse Darthenne, whose portraits became a signature of his studio practice.

His photographs were often compared to cinematic tableaux: meticulously lit, carefully composed, and produced with a deliberate slowness that ran against the grain of fast editorial shooting. Lagrange worked across fashion, fine art and advertising, and his images appeared in numerous international publications as well as in book form.

What can visitors expect?

According to the Portugal Resident, which reported the opening, the exhibition presents Lagrange's work at the Loulé venue. The gallery has not, in the material available, detailed the full list of series on view, the number of prints, or the run dates — visitors should confirm opening hours and closing date directly with In The Pink before travelling.

What the exhibition does underscore is the continued European reach of Lagrange's oeuvre since his death. His archive and prints have circulated through galleries and fairs across the continent, and Portugal has now joined the list of countries where his work has been shown posthumously.

Why does this matter for the Algarve?

Lisbon and Porto have long dominated Portugal's photography institutional scene, from museum collections to dedicated photography centres. The Algarve, by contrast, has developed its exhibition culture largely through independent spaces and municipal venues. A gallery in Loulé mounting a show devoted to a photographer of Lagrange's international standing signals where regional programming is heading: beyond local and landscape photography toward names with global recognition.

For collectors and photography followers in the region, the show also offers a chance to assess Lagrange's craft up close. His prints reward in-person viewing precisely because so much of their effect depends on scale, tonal depth and the deliberate staging that reproductions flatten.

Practical information

The exhibition is on view at In The Pink in Loulé. Readers planning a visit should check with the gallery for opening times, admission conditions and the exhibition's closing date.

If the Loulé showing draws the audience its subject deserves, it may encourage further bookings of internationally known photographers for the Algarve — a region whose exhibition calendar is quietly becoming harder for the country's two big cities to monopolise.