Boogie Woogie Photography presents a group exhibition: SUMMER BREEZE, which brings together a collection of selected artists. The exhibition is held at the hotel Le Relais de Poste in the heart of the historic center of Arles, from 7 July until 27 October 2025 (concurrent with Les Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles).
Summer is not just a time; it is an aesthetic—defined by long, golden hours, bodies in motion, and the dreamy languor of heat. Across generations, photographers have been drawn to the emotional and visual possibilities of summer: its sense of freedom, fleeting pleasures, and the way it distills both nostalgia and immediacy at the same time. In Arles, the pulse of global photographic creativity accelerates each summer with its festival, as artists, curators and audiences converge.
Join us as we celebrate the art of storytelling with the vibrant spirit of summer through the perspective of diverse photographers’ lens.
Le Nu Provençal, Gordes is the iconic image of acclaimed French photographer Willy Ronis. It is a nude of his wife Marie-Anne Lansiaux, captured in their stone farmhouse in the hot summer of 1949 in South of France. Ronis remembered: “I was repairing the attic. I needed a trowel, so I went downstairs and there was Marie-Anne, naked, standing on the stone tiles, washing herself in the porcelain basin. ‘Don’t move,’ I said, and, with my hands full of plaster, I grabbed my Rolleiflex and took four photos.” Ronis described this experience as miraculous and developed the negative after returning to Paris, having completely forgotten this moment that had lasted only a few minutes—a prosaic instant of extraordinary poetry. This intimate domestic scene is like an impressionist painting. Today, it still moves us and reflects with nostalgia the rustic spirit of country life in the summer.
Twenty years later in 1969, the internationally renowned artist Roger Ballen was a nineteen-year-old college student who enjoyed music at a spectacular summer festival but by chance could also document on the spot images of events which still remain in the public consciousness. People were immersed in music with unrestrained joy. He captured a group of motorcyclists seating on a car, their dress and motorbikes reflected the young people’s pursuit of alternative and venturesome spirit in that era. Recently, Ballen unveiled this treasure and shared the contact sheets which he hadn’t looked at in fifty years with The New York Times: “It was a jolt to the memory,” he said. “I was so excited. It’s like finding gems in the sand. It’s one of the nicest feelings that you can have when you’re involved in the history of your own work, to find things that you ignored or forgot about or didn’t come to terms with. And the fact that fifty years have gone by, which is also hard to reconcile.” Today, the historic Woodstock Summer Music Festival remains a symbol of the counterculture movement of the 1960s.
Jacques Henri Lartigue is unique; this is how Richard Avedon describes him in the afterword to ‘Instant de ma vie’, the book he devoted to him, published in 1970: “While his [photographer] predecessors created traditions that his contemporaries followed, [Lartigue] did what no photographer had done before and none has done since: he photographed his own life.” A dreamed, idealized life, from which he consciously erased the shadows, choosing to keep only the sunshine.
In 2018, French photographer Isabelle Boccon-Gibod stayed with a friend who had recently moved to Sun City, a residential community of 5,000 households located in southern California, near Palm Springs. The houses there are almost all identical, coming in five similar models, and the rules are strict: residents must be over fifty, no children, limited areas to walk your dog, specific regulations for garden decoration, etc. While walking around with her small photographic camera, Isabelle noticed that when the sun was in the frame, it would burn her Polaroid film, creating a small black spot that reminded her of a cigarette burn or a bullet hole. She wanted to ease the anxiety that the atmosphere of Sun City triggered in her by making use of this phenomenon. With this scorching series, Isabelle was going to “take the skin off” Sun City! All the while paying tribute to another America.
Last year, Rémi de Laquintane made a trip by train from Hong Kong to Paris spanning 17,000 kilometers over fifteen days. His exploration is a deeply personal narrative, a solitary pilgrimage that celebrates tranquility and beauty, providing solace amid the chaos of modern life. Through skilful use of reflection and blur, he transforms the tangible reality outside the train into surreal dreamscapes, inviting us to experience not just what is seen, but what is felt.
Among the artists exhibited, a special mention goes to Louis Stettner, who is being honoured at the Festival this year with “The World of Louis Stettner” at Espace Van Gogh, curated by Virginie Chardin, just around the corner. We hope you especially appreciate the masterful composition and sensuality of his “Sunbathers” on Saint Raphael’s Beach. I believe his work stands out in the photography world due to his ability to convey profound human emotions and everyday life with an understated yet powerful authenticity. Stettner’s unique perspective, combined with his perfect technique, render his photographs timeless. Some of his renowned oblique gaze compositions give a sense of depth and narrative complexity to his subjects. By capturing them from slightly off-center angles, Stettner created images that feel both intimate and dynamic, inviting viewers to explore the nuances within the frame.
Vanessa Franklin
www.boogiewoogiephotography.com
SUMMER BREEZE
7 July 2025 – 27 October 2025
Free entry everyday 12pm-9pm
Opening: Wednesday 9 July, 6pm-9pm
The Hotel Relais de Poste, 2, Rue Moliere, 13200 Arles, France
