An exposure method that uses a substrate (M) held by a holding member (28) to perform exposure processing, comprising a holding process, which holds a prescribed region (AR3) of the substrate as the holding region by means of the holding member, and a deformation process, which selectively deforms one side of the holding region of the substrate held by the holding process with respect to the other side. According to the present invention, a prescribed region of the substrate is held as a holding region by means of a holding member, and one side of the holding region of said held substrate is selectively deformed with respect to the other side, so it is possible to selectively eliminate the nonlinear deformation components attributable to holding of the substrate with respect to one side from among the two sides of the substrate using the holding region as a reference. Since it is possible to put the pattern projected via the substrate into a linearly correctable status, it is possible to reduce warping of the pattern.