This is not about nostalgia, regrets, controversy or judgements. Not even about a particular story, significant and still to be written. In piecing together our recollections and asking others for theirs, rummaging through archives, questioning both key players and the public, we simply wanted to remind the world—and ourselves—about the first and still number one international photography event. It was an early summer event for enthusiasts, invented 40 years ago by Lucien Clergue and a handful of photographers and photography lovers who wanted to cut loose from the conventions and diktats of the photography clubs; it attracted major artists, some at the height of their glory and others just starting out.

A festival implies new discoveries, and by titling it ‘Rencontres’—meeting, coming together—the founders were aiming high, especially as this was a period when photography was not yet widely recognised, plagued by infighting, hampered by lack of finance, mocked by a sardonic, demanding audience, all against a backdrop of angry outbursts and clichéd assertions. Despite all this Arles chose to remain a festival for the general public. Approaches have changed, directors, curators and artistic directors have come and gone, and for 40 years the event has maintained its appeal and authority—even if sometimes we had to gamble on success, or lesser failure, for the following year. So here we have photographs, of course; but also souvenir photography, documentary material, projections and films—all devoted to evoking the festival from its epic beginnings to its current scope. This is one way of saying that Arles has been an essential, fun, instructive, rewarding experience—and our way of saying we want to keep it going.

Exhibition associate curators: Christian Caujolle, Jean-Jacques Naudet, Catherine Philippot and Françoise Riss.

Graphic production : Dominique Roynette.

Coordinators : Eva Gravayat and Anaïs Feyuex.

Prints: Philippe Chapuis / Graphistes Associés, Arles.

With the backing of Epson, the INA (National Audio-visual Institute) and La Provence.

Realization : Valérie Feidherbe, François Girard et Olivier Koechlin.

Audiovisual production Le Tambour Qui Parle.

Acknowledgements: Bernadette Alambret, Grégoire Alexandre, Daniel Angeli, Clément Apffel, Martine d’Astier (Donation Jacques-Henri Lartigue), Jane Evelyn Atwood, David Audema, Diane Audema, Jean- Pierre Autheman, Françoise Ayxendri, David Balicki, Denis Barrau, Bernard Batais, Jean-François Bauret, Peter Beard, Brigitte Bauer, Jean-Christophe Bechet, Anne Biroleau, Biteuls, Michel Bourguet, Michel Bouvet, Patrice Bouvier, Patrick Box, Marilyn Bridges, Henri Bureau, David Burnett, René Burri, Jean-Marc Bustamante, Christophe Cachera, Giovanna Calvenzi, Lucien Clergue, Maryse Cordesse, Kathy Cooper, Olivier Cullmann, Raphaël Dallaporta, Barbara et Ray Demoulin, Françoise Denoyelle, Dominique Deschavanne, Alain Desvergnes, Jacqueline Dieuzaide (Archives Jean Dieuzaide), Michel Dortes, Jeff Dunas, Hakan Elofsson, École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (ENSP), École nationale supérieure Louis Lumière (ENSCL), Elliott Erwitt, Didier de Faÿs, Benedict Fernandez, Donna Ferrato, Larry Fink, Franco Fontana, Jimmy Fox, Gérard Fraissenet, Eric Franceschi, Martine Franck, Geneviève Fumeron, Agathe Gaillard, Serge Gal, Jean-Paul Gandolfo, Philippe Garner, Charles Gatewood, Jean-Claude Gautrand, Ralph Gibson, Bernard Gille, Lynn Goldsmith, Brian Griffin, Paul Grunblatt, Harry Gruyaert, Yves Guillot, Alexander Haas, Victoria Haas, Charles Harbutt, Willis Hartshorn, Bruno Heitz, les Hilton Brothers, Audrey Hoareau, Frank Horvat, Anne Houssin, William Hunt, Bruno Jarret, Samuel Kirszenbaum, Peter Knapp, Roland Laboye, Eliane et Jean-Pierre Laffont, Sergine Laloux, Xavier Lambours, Hervé Le Goff, Yann Le Goff, Guy Le Querrec, Baudoin Lebon, Jean-Claude Lemagny, Jean-Pierre Lemoine, Jean-François Leroy, Ethan Levitas, Libération, Jean Lévy, Roxanne Lowitt, Christophe Lunn, Magnum Photos, François Marielle, Mary Ellen Mark, Fabienne Martin (Médiathèque d’Arles), Micheline Martin, Marie-Odile Masson, Claudine Maugendre, Louis Mesplé, Duane Michals, Christian Milovanoff, Lucille Moraillon, Yan Morvan, Michèle Moutashar (Musée Réattu), Felicia Murray, Carole Naggar, Marie-Paule Nègre, Claude Nori, Jean-Marie Périer, Bernard Perrine, Bernard Plossu, Allan Porter, Philippe Praliaud, Robert Pujade (Libération), Gérard Rondeau, Mina Rouabah, Catherine Rouvière, Marc Riboud, Philipp Scholz Rittermann, Peter Riva, Jean-Maurice Rouquette, Kathy Ryan, Philippe Salaun, Ferdinando Scianna, Barbara Sieff, Chantal Soler, Caroline Stein, Jock Sturges, Laetitia Talbot, Tendance Floue, Joyce Tenneson, Georges Tourdjman, Charles Traub, Arthur Tress, François Tysseire, Max Vadukul, Guillaume Valabregue, Philippe Vermes, Christian Vogt, Martine Voyeux, Anna Winand, Isabelle Wisniak, Patrick Zachmann.