 Rencontres d'Arles 2026
The exhibition brings together photographs, documentary films and reportages, offering insight into five decades of international reporting. Since the 1950s, Deffarge and Troeller have documented social injustice, political crises and wars in over 55 countries, from Italy and Iran to Yemen and Brazil. Their work combines photographic and film reportage with a strong critical stance toward capitalist perspectives, patriarchal structures and colonial legacies, often employing a subjective and co… more  Dreaming independence 1957–1976March 6, 1957: after more than a century under British rule, Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast, celebrated its independence, driven by the determination of its leader Kwame Nkrumah and his political circle. As a key proponent of the Pan-African project, the country helped open the way toward political emancipation for the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. With this newfound freedom, complex times emerged, as Ghana had to build the structures of its state, assert its political authority within the context… more Paul Kodjo: Photoromance is the first major solo exhibition of the Ivorian photographer in France. A central figure in the development of a post-independence Ivorian visual culture, he was among the first African photographers to explore the photo novel, not only for its narrative potential but also for the new possibilities that cinematic language offered for the creation of
still images.
Showing photographs from his photo novels as well as a broader body of work—much of it never before ex… more Collage and photomontage have long operated as world building strategies. The early Modernists understood it’s potential when they applied cut and paste techniques to Dada, Surrealist and Constructivist practices, creating radical counter‑realities which subverted dominant world views. Their works, pieced together with appropriated or found material, exploited photography’s capacity for abstraction, manipulation and provocation, providing an effective tool with which to critique the growin… morePerspectives on the Fnac Photographic Collection 200 YEARS OF PHOTOGRAPHYCompanion, research subject, symbol, mirror, or fantasy, animals have never left the photographers’ frame since the invention of the medium. Animal Model takes us on a voyage through two centuries of images that reveal how photography has shaped our view of animals and profoundly influenced the ways we love, exploit, or defend them. Bringing together works by renowned artists as well as anonymous photographs, the exhibition leads us on a thematic journey built around seven perspectives: the an… moreLët'z Arles | Luxembourg Photography Award 2026Said of soil. That Stick to the Boots JIMEI × ARLES DISCOVERY AWARD 2025Through Erosion, Hu Weiyi visualizes the relationship between humanity and nature as a process of digestion and metabolism. Turning his own body into a living chemical reactor, he immersed the film rolls used to photograph natural landscapes in his own stomach acid, enabling the digestive process to alter the images in a completely unpredictable way. This “digestion” becomes a creative transformation: natural landscapes—altered by physiological processes—are imbued with individual percep… more2025 Photo Folio Review Winner2025 serendipity × arles grant winner2024 Curatorial Research Grant Winner For more than 60 years, Alain Keler has been exploring the world and its turmoil. His photographs examine the links between history and personal destinies, revealing the traces that the chaos of the present times leaves on people’s faces.
From Lebanon to Chechnya, from Iran to El Salvador, this tireless witness to conflicts and revolutions focuses on the fate of the excluded, the uprooted, and the forgotten. His strikingly poetic black-and-white images span decades, capturing both major uph… more Since 2005, Sammy Baloji has explored tensions between traditional society and the colonial modernity that shape urban space in Katanga, examining how colonial systems of classification continue to shape how the region is represented. In 2017, he traveled with anthropologist Filip De Boeck to retrace the Katanga secession, drawing on both his own family history in the region and the anthropologist’s research conducted between the DRC and Angola.
The exhibition centers on the Hotel Impala in K… more Grand Express Arles 2025Georges Rousse’s Utopia takes over the Abbaye de La Celle with two original site-specific creations and a retrospective, all centered on the artist’s continuing dialogue with painting, architecture, and photography.
In the cloister, the usual perception of space is disrupted by a deconstruction of its elements—vaults, walls, staircases—where color appears to have settled onto the stone like a living substance, shifting as the viewer moves. Two of these new installations feature Rousse… more “Country” is a term embodied by First Peoples in Australia to describe the lands, waterways, seas and cosmos to which they are connected. It represents Ancestral ties to a place, and the living cultural presence of that place, and references the complex relationship land has to language, family and identity. Being “on Country” is more than just being situated somewhere, it is about being shaped by that place, connected to it, and having a responsibility to care for it.
Placing First Pe… more Rencontres d'Arles 2025Ancestral Futures presents a new and generation of artists working with photography, video and collage to address contemporary Brazil society and history by reinterpreting its visual archives and traditions.
With fierce irony and surprising beauty, these artists denounce the historical violence against Afro-Brazilian, immigrant, indigenous and LGBTQIA+ peoples by exposing the construction of stereotypes and disputing the narration of the country’s official history. Their political attitude i… more Brazilian Modernist Photography, 1939–1964
- Rencontres d'Arles 2025Construction Deconstruction Reconstruction presents Brazilian modernist photography through the prism of the production of the Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante (FCCB), an amateur photography club in São Paulo that stood out as a cradle of innovative practices and research. It revolutionized Brazilian photography, enabling its globalization and institutionalization. Founded in 1939, the group evolved during a period noted for the emergence of international movements and trends characteristic of Brazi… more Lët'z Arles I Luxembourg Photography Award 2025 WinnerIn June 2018, Luxembourg artist Carine Krecké stumbled across a series of photos on Google Maps showing the destruction of Arbin, a town on the northern outskirts of Damascus.
These images triggered an obsession in the artist that, for six years, led her on a frantic quest for information. Diving into the heart of official networks, forums and exchange platforms of all kinds, she explores the stories of tragic destinies, both collective and individual.
Faced with the mass of information to … more The exhibition they stray they persist they thunder presents a hitherto unseen collection of photographic and textual works by Agnès Geoffray. They were conceived in the context of research carried out with Vanessa Desclaux, with the support of the bursary of the Institut pour la photographie, on the institutional archives of the "preservation schools" of Cadillac, Doullens and Clermont de l’Oise. These were public institutions for the placement of underage girls in France from the … more 2024 WOMEN IN MOTION AWARD WINNERAll that has form will eventually vanish. Once the human body is lifeless, it cannot continue to exist in this world. This is an obvious fact, yet I sometimes find it impossible to accept. This was the case with my mother’s death, even though it is only natural for a parent to die before their child. Her body was nowhere to be found. The belongings she left behind, which once adhered to her, had become useless without their owner. Before disposing of them, I decided to take photographs. My… more Japanese Photographers Facing the CataclysmOn March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter Scale struck the Northeast coast of Japan and the Tōhoku region, marking one of the most powerful tremors ever recorded. The seismic event caused the Pacific floor to rupture along a stretch over 500km long and 200km wide, triggering a tsunami of up to 30m in height in some areas. The tsunami wreaked havoc, reaching up to a 5 kilometers inland, devastating everything in its path. The aftermath led to a series of catastrophic eve… more Collections of the Olympic Museum and Photo Elysée, Lausanne
On the occasion of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, one of the major international events of the summer, the Rencontres d'Arles is partnering with Photo Elysée and the Olympic Museum to produce an exhibition dedicated to sports photography.
For over a century, major sporting events have been accompanied by images. With the rise of amateur photography in the late 19th century, coinciding with the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, photography and sports have, in many ways, evolved together. The… more Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now Over the past three decades, Gregory Crewdson has been fleshing out a portrait of middle America, that America of picket-fence suburbia gazing wide-eyed at the glimmers of a fading dream. His cinematographically staged photos have gradually pieced together the fragments of a twilight world. His œuvre stunningly interweaves an autobiographical dimension with the portrait of a gloryless America. Wan lights and deserted streets are recurring tropes in his works, which are prepared like movie … more 2023 WOMEN IN MOTION AWARD WINNER“[Photography] is born on the level of the sprouting silver grains, it flourishes a moment, then ages... Attacked by light, by humidity, it fades, weakens, vanishes...”– Roland BarthesLike living organisms, photographs are doomed to die. As a reliable, albeit impermanent witness, photography appears to incite humans to cease to perceive time, both affectively and symbolically.Disappearance–death–is a persistent presence in Rosângela Rennó’s work. … more CONTEMPORARY NORDIC PHOTOGRAPHYSøsterskap highlights photographers’ strong role over several generations in the Nordic countries. The exhibition explores the welfare state from a perspective of intersectional feminism. Often referred to as ‘the Nordic model’, this system is characterized by a public sector that provides all citizens with social security and welfare services, including daycare and education, and has brought significant improvement to living and working conditions. Basic values underlyi… moreINSIDE THE IMAGINATION OF FILMMAKERSJoël Bartoloméo (1957), Christophe Berhault (1958), William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), Stan Brakhage (1933-2003), Pedro Costa (1959), Robert Duncan (1919-1988), George Hackathorne (1896-1940), Arthur Hornblow (1893-1976), Derek Jarman (1942-1994), Jim Jarmusch (1953), Jess (1923-2004), Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), Bertrand Mandico (1977), Chris Marker (1921-2012), Marie-Laure de Noailles (1902-1970), Christian Patterson (1972), John Truwe (1915-1981), Agnès Varda (1928-2019) and Jane Wodening … more A POEM OF PERPETUAL RENEWALA poem of perpetual renewal is the first solo exhibition of the American artist Bettina Grossman, who went by the name Bettina. Bettina spent the early years of her career in Europe, returning to the USA in the 1960s. Shortly after, a traumatic fire destroyed much of her work. She moved into the legendary Chelsea Hotel in 1970 and, recovering from the loss, worked prolifically. After years of producing in isolation, Bettina was featured in two documentary films, which led to her meeting with Yto… more Photographs and Performances of the 1970s from the Verbund Collection, ViennaThe Rencontres d’Arles is delighted to present, for the first time in France, the exhibition A Feminist Avant-Garde. Photographs and Performances of the 1970s from the Verbund Collection, Vienna, with over 200 works by 71 female artists.
The exhibition title refers to "an" Avant-Garde, one containing a multitude of feminist movements, diverse in age, nationality, and culture. Feminisms are also considered in intersectional terms because some of those female artists have experie… moreJoan Fontcuberta & Pilar Rosado160 Years of Photography from the Collections of the Red Cross and Red Crescent East German photography 1980 - 1989 Man-made barriers throughout Europe 1970 - 2018 : The British Home, a Political History Collection Decharme & Cie News from a dream world Image-making, Technology and the Natural WorldFoam will present a large thematic exhibition at the 50th edition of the Rencontres d’Arles, the largest and most respected photography festival in the world. The exhibition, entitled On Earth - Imaging, Technology and the Natural World, brings together the work of over 25 contemporary artists who use innovative imaging strategies to reflect on the evolving relationship between humans and nature. With this exhibition Foam underlines it’s wish to both represent the latest developments… more Evangelia Kranioti explores the borderlines of the world and captures individual destinies caught in the net of Man’s trade. Cargo ports, highways, the backstage of a carnival, graveyards, war ruins: settings of both ceaseless transit and immobilized lives, nailed to the ground or anchored at sea. In her project Exotica, Erotica, Etc., long-distance sailors await the next stopover, longing to form temporary and priced loves. In Obscuro Barroco, the urban queer scene unfolds in Rio de Janei… moreCentre de la photographie Genève pour les Rencontres de la Photographie d'Arles. Urban Impulses - Latin American photography, 1960-2016In the studio of DATAR's photography missionLevitt France - A residential utopiaAudrey Tautou - Superfacial La Vuelta - 28 colombian photographers and artistsLa Vuelta highlights work by 28 artists, spanning several generations. From traditional genres of photography to experimental and research-based practices, the selected projects explore the varied and changing cultural, social and political landscape of identities, values, and beliefs, questioning issues of class, identity, economic survival and the sixty-year history of armed conflict that has merged with and fueled the illegal drug trade. The exhibition is structured around four axes: histor… more An exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Centre PompidouBlank Paper - Stories of the immediate presentIran: year 38 - 66 iranian photographersLuma Rencontres Dummy Book Award Arles 2017 Les Rencontres d'Arles 2016
EXHIBITIONS 4 JULY- 25 SEPTEMBER 2016
ARLES BOOKS Over 1,000m2 dedicated to the book in all its forms.
OPENING WEEK + NIGHTS 4 - 9 JULY 2016 more Arles is a stage on the scale of a city. An invitation to the Rencontres throws an intense spotlight on an oeuvre.
The artists gratify us by preparing their presence with an extraordinary energy. The Rencontres' current formula is unique in the world.
After directing 15 editions, I am leaving the Rencontres d'Arles. For this, my final edition, I wanted a marvellous parade with photographers and collections never seen before at the Rencontres, along with the artists whose presence has m… more ARLES IN BLACK
What meaning does black and white photography have today? Is it fiction, poetry, abstraction or pure nostalgia? The 2013 Rencontres is radically dedicated to black and white photography, presenting entirely new creations from renowned artists, along with discoveries, treasures from the past and, of course, a few exceptions in colour. This year this top photography rendezvous that brings the world to Arles is a must-see phase of the 2013 Marseille-Provence, European Capital of Cu… moreThe LUMA Foundation in Arles 2013 Uncertified
François Hébel, artistic director of the Rencontres d’Arles.
In 2002, in the first edition of the new-style Rencontres d’Arles, we recognised that digital photography has widened the photographer’s palette. Our exhibition Here is New York after the September 11 attacks concerned the first phenomenon of the digital era in which professionals and amateurs all took part and in so doing recognised the genre of ‘vernacular’ photography. Ten yea… more RENCONTRES D'ARLES 2010
HEAVY DUTY AND RAZOR SHARP
60 EXHIBITIONS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
JULY 3rd TO SEPTEMBER 19th 2010
The Rencontres d’Arles 2010 feature six trails: through Argentina, rock music, and traditional film photography; with the friends of the LUMA Foundation; one about changes and changeovers; and a sixth on French prisons.
This edition enjoys the expertise of twenty curators—heads of leading international institutions, artistic directors, and collectors.
Each trail be… more LES RENCONTRES D'ARLES 2009: 67 EXHIBITIONS, 7TH JULY - 13 TH SEPTEMBER 2009, EVERY DAY FROM 10 AM TO 7 PM
67 EXHIBITIONS, DISCUSSIONS, PHOTO WORKSHOPS, GUIDED TOURS
7TH JULY - 13 TH SEPTEMBER 2009
At the 40th Rencontres d'Arles there's something for everybody: over 60 exhibitions in an incomparable setting of 12th-century churches and former industrial buildings, with other events using the town's Roman heritage and inherent drama to present photography in a way found nowhere else. Most of th… more  The Rencontres d'Arles 2007 reflect the passionate commitment of specialists in many different areas of photography: the Awards nominators, chosen from among top museum directors; the collectors injecting new life into one aspect of the discipline; the militants in Beijing standing up for a creative hub that is unique in the world; the photographers who since 1947 have opted for a now mythic independent agency; the altruistic patrons without whom much work would find only a limited audience; and… moreExpositions proprosees par, Exhibitions selected by Raymond Depardon Expositions proprosees par, Exhibitions selected by Martin ParrFestival // 8 – 11 JULY 2004
Opening: 7 July from 5:30 pm to 0:00
4 Evenings at the Antique Theatre
8 - 11 JULY at 10:15 pm
5 Rencontres d'Arles Awards
Presented on Sunday 11 July – Evening at the Théâtre Antique
Exhibitions // 8 JULY - 19 SEPTEMBER 2004
(closing dates according to the exhibition places after August)
Open: 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
21 workshops // Day With, Séminaires et Ateliers
2 Conférences
Lectures
Film screenings from the Die Nacht series, in partnership … more |
