Sleeping Beauty
It’s hot, but not so hot. The heat doesn’t overwhelm you. The climate does. I remember the first time I came to Arles for the festival. It was the middle of August and 33°C. But the air wasn’t stifling. It was, on the contrary, charged with electricity. I remember the tears streaming down my face at the Nan Goldin installation at the Église des Frères Prêcheurs. I remember photographs by Larry Clark, Diane Arbus, Pierre Molinier and Antoine d’Agata. I remember black and whites by Willy Ronis, and the playfulness of Duane Michals. I was intoxicated by so much beauty, so many masterpieces.
That was in 2009, only three years ago. What’s happened since?
On Tuesday, July 3 at noon, scarcely an hour had passed when I asked myself if, by running all over the world in search of hidden treasures, I had become blasé, immune to the emotion that works of art stir up. I reassured myself by talking to others on the pilgrimage who seemed equally lost. I’m not the only one who has searched and not found. I walk through the half-empty halls without really knowing why my eyes refuse to be caught. The magic of images isn’t working.
But wait! In the Espace Van Gogh, I discover a few beautiful photographs by Henry Clarke. They remind me of the rosewater my mother used to wash my face when I was a little girl. I’m transported for a moment but the sweet perfume evaporates as soon as I exit. Even Koudelka seems bland. Perhaps there’s a pearl somewhere, but well hidden.
What’s missing this year at Arles?
There’s plenty of diversity, but little imagination. Who’s taking risks? Where’s the spectacle? The 2012 edition of Rencontres examines the potential role of the “French School” of photography at a time when Düsseldorf and Yale are on top, taking stock of thirty years of instruction of the École nationale supérieure d’Arles. We have sacrificed creativity and fantasy on the altar of ethnocentricity. Let’s hope 2013 will be a year of renewal.
Anne-Hélène Decaux
Historian specializing in modern and contemporary art. She is the director of ArtViatic.
