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Arles, 50 YEARS OF PHOTOGRAPHY

The Rencontres d’Arles, an annual photography festival, was founded in 1970 by Arlesian photographer Lucien Clergue, writer Michel Tournier and historian Jean-Maurice Rouquette. At the time, photography was still regarded as a “minor” art and had not come of age. The festival played an important role in enabling it to gain recognition from institutions. Starting out as a series of encounters between photography enthusiasts, over the years it gained importance and popularity.

Past editions

The Rencontres d’Arles, which has been holding some forty photo exhibitions around town every summer for nearly fifty years now, has established itself as an observatory of current creation and photographic practice.

The Rencontres d'Arles Collection

A PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY
The collection is the outcome of many of years of close collaboration and mutual trust between the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie and the photographers whose work is shown at the festival. It now includes nearly 3,500 pictures ceded by over 470 photographers since 1976, when the practice was established of having each photographer participating in the festival donate one of his or her exhibited works for the collection.

COLLECTION DRIVE & ALBUM

50 EDITIONS OF THE RENCONTRES D'ARLES
The Rencontres d’Arles will celebrate its 50th anniversary in July 2019. To mark the occasion, the festival is asking the visitors, participants and witnesses of those 50 years of photography to share their memories and archives. Photographs, videos, sound recordings, digitalized documents (newspapers, posters, letters, etc.) and testimonies can be uploaded to a participatory platform.

ARLES, LES RENCONTRES DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE, UNE HISTOIRE FRANÇAISE

FRANÇOISE DENOYELLE

From a handful of photographers meeting in 1970 to 140,000 visitors in 2018, a whole chapter in the saga of French photography unfolded in Arles. That story is told in this authoritative book.

historical data

1970 — 2018
- The photographers and artists present at the Rencontres d'Arles.
- Artistic directors and curators, historians and schools, collectors and collections, institutions, agencies, galleries, foundations, publishers, magazines and journals, authors and musicians.
- Festival Awards and prizes awarded during the festival.
- Artistic and administrative directors, presidents of the Rencontres, mayors of Arles and directors of the ENP / ENSP.

Media Library

THE FESTIVAL’S WORDS AND MEMORY
The media library boasts an authoritative audiovisual collection dedicated to photography. A veritable extension of the festival, it has illustrated articles, audio documents and videos about artists and people in the world of photography, often in their own words.

THE FESTIVAL IN A FEW DATES

THE RENCONTRES TURNS 50!

The artists

Many of the most prestigious photographers have taken part in the Rencontres d’Arles, but the list of those who were “discovered” there is also impressive.

The curators

It is rich in diverse viewpoints thanks to the number and variety of curators from different backgrounds.

the venues

From the beginning of July to the end of September, some forty exhibitions are held each year. They are presented in various venues around the city. Some are part of the city’s historical heritage – chapels, a 12th-century cloister, 19th-century industrial buildings – and others are unusual or contemporary spaces, such as the Monoprix store, with its listed 20th-century facade.