“It’s fabulous!” exclaims Jean-Bernard, looking at the images in the “In Praise of Anonymous Photography” exhibition at the Saint-Trophime cloister. “There are some real gems, and it allows you to revisit history with a strong sense of authenticity,” adds this photographer, who came to attend a portrait workshop at the Rencontres d’Arles.
This morning, one of the two curators of the exhibition, Philippe Jacquier, who has dedicated his life to collecting these anonymous gems, checks a few details and takes the time to tell the visitors present the story behind each image. “This is wonderful, it’s a pharmacist who photographed his clients without their knowledge for years, and this, for a very nice purpose, that of making a photo album” he relates before confiding: “And just after, you have the “Jean’s album”, our greatest find…”
“Jean’s Album” is that of an 18-year-old young man who created a photographic collection in which he marks with a red cross the places where he spent time with the woman he loved and probably after their breakup. He notes for example: “Where you were all mine.” A moving work like these 300 images in the exhibition which confirm the great phrase of photographer André Kertész: “Look at these amateurs whose only goal is to collect a memory. That’s pure photography!”
Not far away, across the street, at St. Anne’s Church, a vast exhibition devoted to Australian photography unfolds, with the main themes being the question of colonization and the place of the Aboriginal people. Artist Adam Ferguson answers questions from journalists, then poses for us in front of his images. With this work, he documents the profound changes that have transformed rural Australia. Nearby, Michael Cook’s photographs attract attention. The photographer imagined a public space where the figure of a member of the Aboriginal people would be repeated endlessly, signifying how Aboriginal people are a unique minority in Australia.
You can then venture into the Roman crypt, under the Town Hall, to wander in the dark and cool of the dark vaults, looking if you wish at the work of Batia Suter made of archive images, architectural installations and video projectors.
At 5 p.m., the launch conference for the Rencontres d’Arles 2025 took place, with a large number of prominent figures in attendance. Around 7 p.m., openings and cocktail receptions began throughout the city. We attended the one organized around the Nathalie Guiot collection, Géologie des âmes. A magnificent presentation on the living, including works by Francesca Woodman, Nicolas Floc’h, and Zanele Muholi.
Jean-Baptiste Gauvin
Arles 2025 : Disobedient Images
56th edition is from july 7 to october 5, 2025
Opening week is from july 7 to 13.
https://www.rencontres-arles.com/en
https://www.rencontres-arles.com/en/expositions
https://billetterie.rencontres-arles.com/prestation/Expositions.html?process=2#
