The opening week of the Rencontres d’Arles has come to a close. It ended yesterday, Sunday, with, as usual, a short conference organized by director Christoph Wiesner. A very positive result, with 23,000 visitors counted, 15% more than last year. In total, 531 journalists, 158 artists, and 53 exhibition curators were present. Nearly 4,000 works are on display as part of the Rencontres d’Arles.
Before leaving Arles, we took a look at the photo book publishers in France. Now united under the FrancePhotoBook banner, they drew a mixed assessment, as Arnaud Bizalion explains: “There were a lot of people, not necessarily a lot of sales. For some time now, we’ve been feeling a real erosion in the photo book market and not just photos, by the way.” He then added that publishers are really thinking about reducing manufacturing costs without losing quality and, ideally, continuing to print books in France.
The opening week also concluded with the Live magazine’s grand evening. Unpublished stories brought to life by journalists, filmmakers, and artists who took turns discussing the situation in Ukraine, the different faces of dictators from the 1970s and 1980s, and the hectic life of Hildegard of Bingen, “the female Leonardo da Vinci,” as journalist Aurélie Sfez, who spoke on the subject, put it. Just before the show, the Louis Roederer awards ceremony took place. The work I particularly liked, reported in this magazine, that of Heba Khalifa, received a special mention from the jury. We are curious to know which photographers will be crowned next. See you in 2026!
Jean-Baptiste Gauvin
Arles 2025 : Disobedient Images
56th edition is from july 7 to october 5.
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#
