Disobedient Images And Phenomenal Photography

Tony Albert and David Charles Collins at les Rencontres d’Arles.

Sky Sharrock/ Tony Albert and David Charles Collins

More Than a Festival

Every summer season, the town of Arles turns into a crossroads of heritage and modern imaginative and prescient—not simply by means of Les Rencontres d’Arles, but additionally through its UNESCO‑listed landmarks, Van Gogh legacy, and the wild great thing about the Camargue.

In its 56th version, the images competition, working till fifth October, embraces the provocatively defiant theme Disobedient Images, beneath the directorship of Christoph Wiesner. Drawing inspiration from thinker Édouard Glissant and anthropologist Alban Bensa, the competition invitations us to think about photographs as acts of resistance, cultural dialogue, and id reinvention—from Australia and Brazil to North America and past

The 56th version of Les Rencontres d’Arles brings collectively highly effective, boundary-pushing images beneath the theme Disobedient Images. Inspired by author Édouard Glissant, this yr’s competition explores id, cultural change, and images as a software of resistance and transformation. Exhibitions span historic and trendy venues throughout Arles, showcasing international expertise from Australia to Brazil, the Caribbean to North America.

Tony Albert (Kuku Yalanji), David Charles Collins and Kirian Lawson. Warakurna Superheroes #1, Warakurna Superheroes sequence, 2017.

Courtesy of the artists / Sullivan+Strumpf.

Beyond the competition, Arles itself is a summer season vacation spot value exploring. A UNESCO World Heritage web site, it’s dwelling to Roman monuments just like the Amphitheatre and Saint-Trophime Cathedral, and has deep ties to Vincent van Gogh, who painted a few of his most iconic works right here. Don’t miss the Fondation Van Gogh, at the moment internet hosting a serious Sigmar Polke present that includes unique Van Gogh items. For nature lovers, the close by Camargue—recognized for its wild magnificence, pink salt flats, and flamingos—is a must-visit.

Here are my prime highlights from Les Rencontres d’Arles 2025 and Arles Summer Exhibitions together with; On Country: Photography from Australia; Keisha Scarvile Alma; Ancestral Futures: Brazilian Contemporary Scene; Yves Saint Laurent and Photography; Nan Goldin–winner of the 2025 Kering Women in Motion Award; and the Lët’z Arles Luxembourg Photography award 2025 winner Carine Krecké.

Some off-grid highlights embrace; Belle.beau; Sigmar Polke at Fondation Van Gogh; After Hopper at Arles Gallery; and Etienne Racine.

1. On Country: Photography from Australia

On Country: Photography from Australia highlights the profound non secular and cultural ties between Aboriginal Australians and the land. Through highly effective photographic works, Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists discover how images serves as a type of resistance, truth-telling, and cultural survival amidst environmental and political threats. The time period “Country” refers to excess of geography-it encompasses household, language, id, and ancestral accountability.

Curated by Elias Redstone, Kimberley Moulton, Pippa Milne, and Brendan McCleary, the exhibition reclaims images from its colonial legacy and redefines it by means of neighborhood, care, and connection. The artists problem conventional energy constructions in image-making, providing a significant view of Australia’s layered, typically painful, historical past and the resilience of its First Peoples.

Aton Atem pictures at les Rencontres d’Arles

© Lee Sharrock

Standout works embrace a sequence of photographs by Tony Albert and David Charles Collins depicting children posing as Superhero charactres on of trashed automobiles in a junkyard. The pictures had been shot in Warakurna, a tiny Indigenous neighborhood of lower than 300 individuals, bordering Western Australia. Sydney-based photographer David Charles Collins teamed up with Indigenous artist Tony Albert to doc an artwork mission with native youngsters and this sowed the seed for the Superhero shoot.

Rencontres d’Arles director Christoph Wiesner has been quoted as saying that the 2025 competition marks a “monumental moment in the recognition of Australian photography”, and it’s true that there’s a formidable mixture of established and rising voices vying for consideration in On Country, together with; James Tylor’s gorgeous monochrome summary landscapes; Aton Atem’s charming portraiture; Maree Clarke’s unforgettable black and white portrait sequence Ritual and ceremony; Michael Cook’s highly effective photographs commenting on racist tropes together with Majority Rule (Bus); and Lisa Sorgini’s superbly surreal photographs capturing the surprise of nature and the innocence of childhood.

Michael Cook ‘Majority Rule (Bus)’/ Michael Cook

Michael Cook

2. Nan Goldin – Stendhal Syndrome

Nan Goldin returns to Arles with Stendhal Syndrome (2024), a robust slideshow mixing pictures of Classical and Baroque artwork with intimate portraits of her buddies and lovers. Narrated in her personal voice and set to a haunting soundtrack by Soundwalk Collective and Mica Levi, the work displays on magnificence, emotional connection, and the mythological dimensions of affection.

Structured round Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Goldin’s work elevates private historical past to the extent of epic storytelling. Her portraits assert the importance of chosen household and neighborhood, culminating in a retelling of the eponymous syndrome—a collapse within the face of overwhelming magnificence.

Nan Goldin. Young Love, 2024. Courtesy of the artist / Gagosian

Courtesy of the artist / Gagosian

3. Keisha Scarville – Alma

Keisha Scarville’s Alma is a deeply private exploration of grief and presence following the demise of her mom in 2015. Using her mom’s clothes and objects, Scarville creates black-and-white portraits that evoke non secular traditions and ancestral reminiscence, making absence really feel vividly tangible.

Using each nook of the darkened Salle Henri Comte as a background for the photographs, Scarville creates a pathway by means of photographs eulogising her Mother, by juxtaposing prints on the partitions with opaque items of fabric suspended from the ceiling like spectres.

Scarville explores loss, absence and reminiscence by means of her use of images, and finds inspiration in spirit images, the ancestral determine of Egungun, and clothes that belonged to her late mom. Staging pictures with herself carrying her mom’s garments, she invokes scorching spirit and creates a shifting meditation on grief.

Keisha Scarville ‘Alma’. Photograph by Lee Sharrock

© Lee Sharrock

4. Yves Saint Laurent and Photography

Yves Saint Laurent and Photography explores Yves Saint Laurent’s deep engagement with images, that includes iconic photographs by legends similar to Avedon, Beaton, and Klein. Over 80 pictures hint the couturier’s evolving picture and legacy, highlighting how images helped form his international affect.

A second part showcases over 200 archival materials-contact sheets, advert campaigns, private photos-offering a behind-the-scenes have a look at how images was important to Saint Laurent’s model. Curated by Simon Baker and Elsa Janssen, this exhibition bridges vogue historical past and visible tradition.

Peter Knapp. ELLE, September 1965. Cocktail clothes from the Fall-Winter 1965 high fashion assortment, also called the “Tribute to Piet Mondrian.”

Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent / Jeanne Lanvin-Castillo / Peter Knapp.

5. Ancestral Futures: Brazilian Contemporary Scene

Ancestral Futures showcases a brand new wave of Brazilian artists difficult colonial narratives by means of images, video, and collage. Drawing from visible archives and cultural traditions, they middle Indigenous, Afro-Brazilian, and LGBTQIA+ voices to reimagine Brazil’s id and future.

Inspired by Ailton Krenak’s e book Ancestral Future, the artists reject linear progress to suggest futures rooted in ancestral information. From AI-driven collages to neighborhood archives and body-based efficiency, the exhibition is a daring, politically charged imaginative and prescient of Brazil’s previous and potential.

Igi Lọlá Ayedun, Denilson Baniwa, Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Rafa Bqueer, Yhuri Cruz, Mayara Ferrão, Collective Lakapoy, Paulo Nazareth, Melissa Oliveira, Lincoln Péricles, Ventura Profana, Glicéria Tupinambá and Gê Viana all deliver distinctive visions and distinct kinds to the desk, suggesting new methods of making and manipulating photographic imagery that symbolize completely different cultures and voices whereas pushing the boundaries of the medium.

Ancestral Futures presents a brand new and technology of artists working with images, video and collage to deal with modern Brazil society and historical past by reinterpreting its visible archives and traditions.

Ancestral Futures at les Rencontres d’Arles

© Lee Sharrock

6. Carine Krecké – Losing North

Carine Krecké–winner of the Lët’z Arles award 2025–takes over the majestic seventeenth Century Carmelite Chapelle de la Charité with Losing North, an immersive investigation into the Syrian warfare. The sequence was triggered by a sequence of on-line photographs which motivated Krecké’s six yr mission to analysis obsessively and merge digital sleuthing with emotional introspection to grasp the private and collective trauma behind the destruction wreaked by means of warfare.

Through video, paperwork, and a haunting scenographic set up, the exhibition turns into an area between reality and fiction. Visitors are invited to navigate this labyrinth of photographs and tales, questioning how we understand, course of, and take part within the illustration of battle.

Carine Krecké – Losing North. Photograph by Lee Sharrock

© Lee Sharrock

7. Sigmar Polke – Beneath the Cobblestones, The Earth, Van Gogh Foundation

This main retrospective at Fondation Vincent Van Gogh Arles–curated by Bice Curiger–showcases the irreverent, genre-defying work of Sigmar Polke. Sigmar Polke – Beneath the Cobblestones, The Earth spans portray, images and movie, highlighting Polke’s experimentation with supplies, popular culture, and the visible language of post-war Europe.

The exhibition brings collectively greater than sixty works, together with people who have by no means been introduced in public earlier than. Referencing the 1968 slogan “Beneath the cobblestones, the earth,” the present connects Polke’s political edge to Van Gogh’s rural symbolism. From alchemical darkroom methods to satirical media reinterpretations, Polke’s work invitations viewers to query societal norms and the position of artwork in uncovering buried truths.

In the opening room are two iconic work by Van Gogh–Peasant and Peasant Woman Planting Potatoes and Basket of Potatoes (Nuenen 1885)– that nod to the exhibition’s title and are juxtaposed by Polke’s witty surrealist work Kartoffelhaus (Potato House) (1967–1990)–a shed-like construction embellished with potatoes. As the exhibition progresses, the temper darkens and we encounter Le jour de gloire est arrivé (1988), a portray juxtaposing triumph and disaster, and Sans titre (Palermo) (1976)–a sequence of pictures taken of skeletons within the catacombs of Palermo, exhibiting the vary of feelings Polke captures together with his irreverent artwork.

Sigmar Polke exhibition at Fondation Van Gogh, Arles © Lee Sharrock

© Lee Sharrock

8. Belle Beau

Belle Beau’s group present blends Surrealist sensibility with modern edge, presenting works throughout portray, images, sculpture, and poetry. Artists like Laurent Baude and Stanislas Blohorn stand out—Blohorn’s haunting pictures of bulls slaughtered through the pandemic function memorials and cultural commentary on Camargue traditions.

Baude’s neon-lit bathtub sculpture and Antonie le Roux-Dhuys’ playful digital wordplay exemplify the present’s mental and poetic power. With nods to Dada, Van Gogh, and Ai Weiwei, Belle Beau champions artwork with out borders and rooted in emotional and cultural reminiscence.

Stanislas Blohorn at Belle Beau gallery, Arles

© Lee Sharrock

9. After Hopper – Arles Gallery

Anne Eliayan and Christian Pic (AECP) pay tribute to the artwork of Edward Hopper in After Hopper, a painterly images sequence that evokes the American grasp painters iconic use of sunshine, solitude, and narrative stress. Using images enhanced by hand-painting, AECP reinterpret Hopper’s imagery in a distinctly Arlesian gentle.

Merging images with storytelling, AECP reimagines classics like Hockney’s Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy–itself a Hopper homage–and seminal existentialist American scene captured by Hopper in his 1942 portray Nighthawks. AECP have created a singular approach merging the photographic oeuvre with portray in an exploration of liminality and silence, resulting in a dialogue structure and human presence.

Anne Eliayan and Christian Pic (AECP) ‘After Hopper’ at Arles Gallery

© Lee Sharrock

10. Etienne Racine – Solo Exhibition

Canadian avenue photographer Etienne Racine brings a uncooked, poetic edge to Arles with hanging black-and-white photographs pasted all through the town and in his gallery present. From night-time Raves and nocturnal Parisian café scenes evoking photographic masters similar to Doisneau, to seashores and backstreets, Racine’s work captures the colourful pulse of on a regular basis life.

Racine blends technical mastery with a lived understanding of humanity, formed by his backgrounds in DJing, anthropology, and Buddhism. His images features as a visible diary–an existential journey by means of chaos, connection, and the seek for peace.

Etienne Racine in Arles/ Photograph by Lee Sharrock

© Lee Sharrock