Arles 2020 day to day by Thierry Maindrault
At the corner of a street, I find the Arles of photography, the real one. A large poster (4.00mx 2.50m) stuck to the old on a section of wall in the city. The subject matters little, neither does the photographer, the photography is beautiful, it is interesting, it challenges … passers-by stop, they take their time, they interact with the image. The Arles of photography is back. Two hundred meters further, it’s another poster, in terms of communication, just as large which seduces in another emotional register and so on photographs are back on the streets of the City.
Who is the benefactor of this burst? An almost unknown “world” of photography. Etienne Racine is real anthropologist, a “street” anthropologist as he likes to define himself, the street in its integrity is clearly its vocation. He has landed in Arles four years ago without prejudice, without reference, he talks with everyone, he innovates by refreshing, without knowing it, Arles of the first “Rencontres”. Isn’t history this eternal beginning when it is authentic?Mayonnaise takes, public moves and finds its lair so close to the town hall square and yet discreetly isolated.
What to say about the exhibition and the works: that the subjects are original and let them testify for history. What to say about the creator and photographs: that the creation is engaging and that it touches our emotions. Work and quality do the rest with a message intact from the postcard to the 6.00 m by 4.00 m poster.
This year, in Arles 2020, the works of this creator, alone in his corner, are to be tasted without moderation.
Sursaut/Jump
17 rue du Cloître
13200 Arles
July first until September 27, 2020 from 01pm to 09pm, excepted on Monday.
