Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Postcard from Les Rencontres d'Arles





Postcard from...LES RENCONTRES D'ARLES







Les Rencontres d'Arles is one of the highlights of our summers in Provence. Not only is Arles a beautiful city in the heart of the Camargue region, but every year a major photography exhibit (Les Rencontres...) is held all around Arles, in all sorts of beautiful and exciting venues. From an abandoned train depot  (part of which has currently been torn down to make way for a future very contemporary "Arts Resource Center" designed by Frank Gehry himself!), to cloisters, churches, museums and more, the art of photography totally takes over the city from the first week of July to the end of September.


L'Hôtel de Ville in Flying Colors...




Arles is filled with antique monuments from the Roman times, as on the Place de la République, where the 4th Century Obelisk of Arles stands in the middle of the square. A fountain, offering much appreciated coolness in the summer heat, has been added around it in the 19th Century.

The well-preserved circular Roman amphitheater










Art in the streets, in all forms...

Even on shop facades...

Beaded door, Beaded Arlesienne...

Lovely old streets, where time has stopped...

Love this door...

This year, The Rencontres d'Arles are celebrating their 45th edition. It is under the artistic direction of François Hebel, from 2002 to 2014, that the 'Rencontres' have gained great international recognition and popularity, attracting more visitors and enthusiasts every year. A change is in the air...a new Art Director, Sam Stourdzé, will take over as of 2015. The ancient, "Ateliers"( abandoned SNCF train depot) have partially been demolished today and a new project, sponsored by Swiss Heiress, avid art collector and philanthropist Maja Hoffmann and her 'Luma Arles Foundation', is under way. It will give birth to an 'Arts Resource Center', designed by famous architect, Frank Gehry and scheduled to be completed in 2018.


The Frank Gehry project

For each of the past 12 years, a different design (an animal or fruit/vegetable) has appeared on the posters and advertising for the Rencontres d'Arles...A selection of souvenirs, t-shirts, mugs etc...and the annual catalogue regrouping all of the photographers on exhibit that year, can be purchased. We have collected the mugs of all the years we've gone and bought every book! (Does that make us collectors...?)





Count the mugs, one per year...

"Parade" - Les Rencontres d'Arles - version 2014  - with a recap of past mascots -


A purple 'Moose' is the mascot for this year and even found its' place in the fountain under the Obelisk of the Place de la République ! (Ranked UNESCO World Heritage btw - the Obelisk...not the moose...!)

So, here are some pictures of the wonderful 'Ateliers'; some photos from previous years just to show you what it was like before they were partly torn down, and others from this year...

Let's go...

Isabelle Le Minh - Arles - 2012





Here we are...surrounded by JR photos back in 2011

These buildings are no longer standing today...pity...






Un peu Magritte...No??

Mehdi Meddaci - Arles - 2012





some pics...inside the Ateliers...very cool and photogenic place...







































Ilit Azoulay - Arles - 2014

Ilit Azoulay - Arles - 2014

Kechun Zhang -  Arles - 2014

Chema Madoz - Arles 2014

Arno Rafael Minkkinen - Arles 2013

John Stezaker - Arles 2013
 

After the Ateliers, back to the center of town for more exhibits...

Grégoire Alexandre - Arles 2012
Picasso by fantastic photographer Lucien Clergue - Arles - 2014

Vik Muniz - Arles 2014
David Bailey - Arles 2014   

Alfredo Jaar - Arles 2013 - 'Eglise des Frères Prêcheurs'

The beautiful Abbaye de Montmajour also hosts photographic exhibits. The work of two photographers is presented this year in the serene setting of this fortified Benedictine Monastery built between the 10th and 18th Centuries.













Clint Eastwood by Patrick Swirc - Arles 2014

Arnold Schwartzenegger by Patrick Swirc - Arles 2014

Catherine Deneuve by Patrick Swirc - Arles 2014

 And I found out that french actor Vincent Perez was also a very talented photographer...


Johnny Halliday by Vincent Perez - Arles 2014

Tatiana Dyagilivia by Vincent Perez - Arles 2014

Vincent Perez - Arles 2014






All I can say is that Les Rencontres d'Arles is a fantastic opportunity to see some of the best photographers (famous and not yet famous...) in the best environments. I can only encourage anyone who enjoys photography to experience Arles, both for the beautiful city that it is and for this particular artistic event.

To finish up...I couldn't resist two more pictures...

This one for the artistic (?) aspect...while visiting the Lucien Clergue show, there were these booties on the floor, in the middle of everyone's way...people avoided them with a puzzled look on their faces wondering if they were part of the exhibit...they weren't. The girl in charge of supervising the room removed her shoes and put them there so no one would risk spraining an ankle on the old, broken floor tiles...


Look under the shoes...broken tiles, leaving one very considerate young lady shoeless...   


Peeping through a window, I saw this elderly gentleman...I couldn't quite figure out what he was working on but he reminded me of Gepetto creating Pinocchio in his workshop... This, you see, is also the magic of Arles.



We'll talk about fashion next time. So join me for a...

Postcard from... ARLES, L'ARLESIENNE AND CHRISTIAN LACROIX...

A très vite...


credits:- wikipedia, www.trekearth.com, Getty Images.

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