Over the past few years, Les Rencontres d’Arles have been on the forefront of contemporary photography. The 2017 edition doesn’t miss a beat, and the program offers interested visitors an insightful overview of innovative, original photographic practices. L’Oeil de la Photographie invites you to spend a day meandering through the shaded maze of the streets of Arles exploring the exhibitions.
Start early in the morning by stopping at the Cloister of St. Trophime, right in the heart of the Camargue capital. Kick off the day with a croissant and a cup of coffee, and then plunge into Dune Varela’s distorted space-time. The winner of the BMW 2016 residency at the Nicéphore Niépce Museum, Varela works on iconic places charged with history and mythology by exploiting various media: museum collections, pictures found on the internet, and her own photographs.
Round the corner, you can step into the Archbishop’s Palace and immerse yourself in the awe-inspiring oeuvre of Masahisa Fukase with his first European retrospective. The Japanese photographer’s raw compositions, in which performance and theater play a key role, attest to the extreme originality of his photographic practice. Fukase works in both black and white and in color, with original prints, magazine covers, as well as calligraphy. His photography is potent and groundbreaking.
At lunchtime, you will want to escape the southern heat, the hustle and bustle of the early days of the festival, and seek shade and quiet. Since its renovation, the Atélier de la mécanique is just the place. Spend your afternoon there and take it easy enjoying the video installation by Simon Brodbeck and Lucie De Barbuat (In Search of Eternity II: Le Mur de Vent). Constructed as a fairytale, using long tracking shots, the narrative suspends the flow of the latest work by the Villa Medici residents and proposes a light metaphysical reflection full of poetry.
Teatime calls for some refreshment, which is offered by Ester Vonplon with her exhibition Combien de temps dure encore la finitude [How much longer will finitude last]. In the summer of 2016, Ester Vonplon traveled to the Norwegian island of Spitzberg to photograph the color white, omnipresent in the snow and ice cover. Some photographs approach abstraction and the monochrome, inviting contemplation. And yet the intention is serious: the artist seeks to capture the transient nature of our planet, focusing on global warming which affects the North Pole more than any other region.
Lastly, still under the metal roofs of the former railway warehouses, Constance Nouvel has staged a stunning mise-en-scène. In five different spaces, the artist expands the camera work with the decor, drawings, and viewer participation. She combines contemporary practices and modern art, since her illusionist arrangement evokes early twentieth-century panoramas and dioramas.
Next, take some time to rest your eyes before Arles begins to vibrate with nightlife.
Arthur Dayras
Arthur Dayras is a writer specializing in photography who lives and works in Paris.
Festival des Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles 2017
July 3 to September 24, 2017
Arles, France
