They're coming back! An infinite flow of images and creativity, the Rencontres d’Arles blossom once again this year through more than forty exhibitions, distilled throughout this jewel of Provence where light is king. Inspiring the greatest painters and the most beautiful works since Antiquity, the city of emperors and the arts has indeed become, in less than a century, the global epicenter of photography. This season, clichés flourish around the idea of memory: Sophie Calle seizes it with poetry, just like Michel Medinger and his strange cabinet of surrealist curiosities. Here, the art of photography reveals the treasures hidden in the recesses of our minds, or, as Ishiuchi Miyako says, “makes visible the invisible things that lie beneath the surface.” The winner of the prestigious Women In Motion 2024 prize here deploys one of the most beautiful series of this meeting, with her emblematic Mother’s. Behind the fragility of this lipstick can be seen a moving maternal world, and the tangible memory of beings who are no longer maternal. In the spotlight, Japanese artists expose the liberating nature of self-expression in images, and cultivate the incredible vitality of the archipelago. The photographers in this edition suspend time, offering us a captivating bouquet of colors, memories and moments of life.

We recommend 5 dazzling exhibitions not to be missed!

Have “Encounters” with Mary Ellen Mark

She was part of the Magnum agency, worked for the New Yorker, Rolling Stone and even LIFE Magazine. Disappeared in 2015, Mary Ellen Mark, a major actress in documentary photography, was able to capture the changes of her time through her lens. From the street children of Seattle to the sex workers of Mumbai, including traveling circus families in India, the photographer is interested in humanity, in all its variations. In a constant quest for truthfulness and eclecticism, she witnessed the women's liberation movements, but also the demonstrations against the Vietnam War. These intimate and emphatic portraits open visitors to encounters in Arles, diverse and exotic horizons. 

“Finishing in style” with Sophie Calle

In the Roman crypts located under the town hall of the city of Arles, Sophie Calle invites us to visit her personal catacombs. After water damage, the artist saw his series of photos Les Aveugles infiltrated by mold and rot. The photographs being irrecoverable, Calle chose to “stage their absence” in the form of a nostalgic farewell, resembling a post-apocalyptic epilogue. By accompanying it with objects and clothes that she no longer uses and which, as with the photos, would be too hard to throw away, with Ending in Beauty, Sophie Calle offers us a melancholy stroll and an intimate reflection on disappearance, memory and the right way to say goodbye. 

Remembering in Japan with “Replicas”

On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima power plant exploded, causing a nuclear disaster of phenomenal proportions. This unspeakable and impossible to measure catastrophe then causes, among many artists, and particularly photographers, a vital need to document this drama, to constitute a collective memory. The moving photos in this exhibition tell both the visible consequences through the damage caused and the missing victims, but also the invisible repercussions of radioactivity. Among the most striking works, Kanno Jun is a model of resilience: ten years after the tragedy, he returned to the scene and chose to have his little cousins pose there, creating a striking contrast between the apparent serenity of the children and the disastrous context in which they take place.

Embark on “A Journey to the Center” with Cristina de Middel

In the Church of the Fisher Brothers, embark on a heroic journey, that of the migratory crossing from Mexico. From Tapachula to Felicity, a small Californian town nicknamed the center of the world, Cristina De Middel immerses us in the skin of the migrants who cross this arduous and difficult-to-access border every day. Between hope, violence and determination, this series of documentary photos, by paying tribute to migrants and their courage, denounces the prejudices that have limited them for so many years. This project, which took him seven years, reveals breathtaking images and effortlessly immerses us in an aesthetic and vibrant adventure, which will leave no one indifferent. 

Shake up “The Order of Things” with Michel Medinger

Irreverent and offbeat, if this exhibition takes place in the Chapelle de la Charité, don't expect pious and devout works! Michel Medinger, one of the greatest Luxembourg photographers, mixes surrealism, Dadaism and Dutch paintings to nourish his fanciful universe. The result of a carefully orchestrated staging, his photographs combine objects of all kinds, strange and absurd. The photographer combines to create unexpected ensembles and unusual images, as fascinating as they are disturbing. Between fantasy and esotericism, immerse yourself in the absurd world of this provocative photographer!

PHOTOGRAPHIC ENCOUNTERS IN ARLES
From July 1 to September 29, 2024
Throughout the city of Arles, 13200
Learn more