Arles hosts 56th Rencontres de la Photographie, global photo event
Every summer, the historic town of Arles in southern France transforms into a global capital of photography. The Rencontres de la Photographie, now in its 56th edition, opened on July 7 with a powerful message: photography is not just about capturing images—it’s about telling stories, asking questions, and reflecting the world we live in.
This year’s opening week was buzzing with energy. Between guided tours, public talks, and packed exhibitions, it’s clear that Arles is much more than a festival—it’s a living, breathing hub of contemporary photography. And it all began with a moment of brilliance: Nan Goldin, one of the most influential artists of our time, was awarded the Women in Motion Award for Photography. Her latest project, Stendhal Syndrome (2024), stunned audiences with a mix of Renaissance imagery and deeply personal portraits—reminding us that photography can be both poetic and political.
Nan Goldin, Young Love, 2024
More Than Just a Festival: A Global Photography Observatory
With over 160 artists and 24 curators involved, Rencontres d’Arles 2025 is a deep dive into the major conversations of our time—identity, belonging, environment, and cultural memory. One of the standout exhibitions, On Country: Photography from Australia, explores the intimate relationship between Indigenous Australians and their land, offering a powerful meditation on place and cultural survival through the lens of contemporary photography.
Brazil also takes center stage in a series of bold exhibitions. Ancestral Futures explores the ongoing struggles of Afro-Brazilian, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ communities, while Echoes from a Near Future by Caroline Monnet flips the script on stereotypical portrayals of Indigenous women, celebrating strength, elegance, and resistance.
Caroline Monnet, Echoes from a Near Future, 2022
Rediscovering Photography’s Icons
If you’re into photography legends, Arles has you covered. In the Place of the Other showcases early works by Claudia Andujar, part of a larger “Rereadings” series that reconsiders figures like Letizia Battaglia, Louis Stettner, and even fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent—through the photographic lens.
Elsewhere, Stéphane Couturier blends architecture and photography in his fascinating project [E-1027+123], reimagining the visual dialogue between Le Corbusier and Eileen Gray. His layered compositions blur reality, offering a utopian reconciliation of artistic legacies.
Stéphane Couturier, «Villa Eileen Gray - #8, E-1027+123 series», 2021-22.
Personal Stories and Identity Through Photography
The festival doesn’t shy away from intimate narratives. In Father, Diana Markosian retraces the emotional journey of reconnecting with her estranged father. Camille Lévêque’s In Search of the Father takes a more abstract approach, questioning the influence of paternal figures on our identities.
Then there’s Dancing on Ashes (Open Fire) by Lila Neutre—a bold, kinetic celebration of voguing and twerking as radical forms of self-expression. It’s a reminder that photography doesn’t just document movement—it can amplify the power of identity and resistance.
Diana Markosian, The Cut Out, Father series, 2014-2024.
Camille Lévêque, Glitch, 2014.
Lila Neutre, Milani Varela (Latex Ball No. 5),
Sculpting the Self – The Rest is Drag series, 2015.
Rewriting History, One Image at a Time
History is also a recurring theme. The Lobster War, a collaboration between Jean-Yves Jouannais, Mabe Bethônico, and students from ENSP, revisits a bizarre Cold War conflict between France and Brazil. It’s part documentary, part artistic intervention, and all thought-provoking.
For those fascinated by travel and time, Anna Fox and Karen Knorr retrace Berenice Abbott’s journey along U.S. Route 1. Using tools from iPhones to large-format cameras, they paint a vivid portrait of American life from Maine to Florida, then and now.
Meanwhile, the MYOP photo agency celebrates 20 years of documentary excellence, bringing together stories from both the far corners of the world and the neighborhoods next door—united by a commitment to truth, justice, and collective memory.
Zen Lefort, Indian Land series, United States, 2016.
From Surrealism to Streetlights
The festival embraces all styles. In The Tourist, Kourtney Roy crafts hyper-saturated, cinematic scenes that are part fantasy, part nightmare. Todd Hido counters that with The Light From Within, where moody landscapes and haunted faces conjure the melancholy of the American dream.
Nature also speaks loud and clear. In Sauvages (Wild), Laurence Kubski documents the fragile line between human expansion and the animal world. Her images—part real, part staged—ask the question: does wild nature still exist, or has it become just another aesthetic?
Laurence Kubski, Reenactment of a childhood memory:
the snail speed contest, 2024.
What’s Emerging? A New Wave of Visual Voices
If you’re looking for the future of contemporary photography, don’t miss An Assembly Of Skeptics, part of the Discovery Award Louis Roederer Foundation. This group show brings together emerging voices who challenge everything from gender violence to historical revisionism. Each project is a reminder that photography is not just about seeing—it’s about rethinking.
Beyond Arles: The Grand Arles Express
Can’t stay in Arles? The Grand Arles Express takes the festival spirit across the region, from Marseille to Mougins. One of the highlights is Black is Beautiful, the first European exhibition of Kwame Brathwaite—the visionary artist who championed Black pride and beauty in the 1960s. His collective, AJASS, didn’t just document Black life—they shaped it, through music, fashion, and above all, photography.
Kwame Brathwaite, Untitled (Radiah Frye, a model who embraced
natural hairstyles during a photo session at the AJASS studios),
circa 1970.
Final Thoughts: Photography as Resistance
This year’s Rencontres d’Arles invites us to rethink history—ancient and modern—and reimagine the present. From legendary names to bold new voices, the festival presents photography as a force of resistance, testimony, and social transformation. As festival director Christoph Wiesner affirms: “Photography is a tool for resistance, testimony, and social change.”
