Overview, with the director of the Rencontres d’Arles, on the 55e edition of this major festival dedicated to photography, which this year will focus on Japan with 5 dedicated exhibitions.
At the helm of the Rencontres d’Arles, Christoph Wiesner details the programming for this edition entitled Beneath the surface, way of evoking traces and spirits. With its 40 exhibitions, 27 exhibition venues, 150 artists and 50 curators, this event makes Arles the city where light is written.
“The choice of image is a form of alchemy”
Madame Figaro. – How do you choose the poster for the Rencontres?Christoph Wiesner. – This year it is a photo by Cristina de Middel, a great photographer who belongs to the Magnum agency and to whom we are dedicating an exhibition, Journey to the center, at the Church of the Preachers. The choice of the image is a form of alchemy, even if the first criterion is its strength. When we have received all the visuals for the program, we do tests, sometimes up to a hundred. The photo of this woman from behind advancing in the water stood out, among other things because of its composition. I asked Cristina what was behind it. She explained to me that she had been working on migration for many years. One morning, she saw this woman in the lake, with a man on the shore. The light was perfect. She tried to take a photo, but her camera didn’t work. She talked to the man, who was the woman’s partner, took his camera apart, and started it up again. Suddenly, it worked! The image was born. Cristina describes this episode as a small miracle. It can be linked to the idea of the magic of photography: an image that appears.
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What is a good photo?
It’s perhaps a photo that we remember, that surprises. Then there is a distinction to be made between the good photo and the good photos. Some photographers work in seriality. In this case, we will consider a set. We are challenged by an image for many reasons, by its history, its layout, its lighting, its framing, because it opens a door to who knows what…
A good photo is a photo that we remember, that surprises
Christoph Wiesner
How do you go about programming?
There are plenty of entries, the trips I take. I went to India as part of our partnership with the Serendipity Festival. I took the opportunity to shine, meet photographers like Rajesh Vora – Everyday Baroque (2014-2019) – who worked on the houses of Punjab. There are our relations with publishers, who often have lots of projects in their drawers, visits to fairs, workshops, exchanges with European and global institutions. In the case of Mary Ellen Mark, a legendary figure to whom we dedicate the monograph Met, We’ve been in discussions with the New York Foundation for some time. Basically, we’re taking a look at different things, and then we decide whether to schedule them now or later.
Five exhibitions on Japan
Do you have an example?
THE or, these Japanese women divers photographed by Uraguchi Kusukazu, is a project that we have had on the table since 2021. We have scheduled it this season, because this year we are focusing on Japan with five exhibitions. There is What a joy to see you. Japanese photographers from the 1950s to the present day, historical exhibition, the work of curator Philippe Séclier which brings together in Replicas – 11/03/11 of Japanese photographers facing the cataclysm post-Fukushima, with the resilience of the Japanese for whom earthquakes are part of their history. The thousand-year-old tradition of or, This community of pearl fishermen was part of the program, which also included Miyako Ishiuchi, winner of the 2024 Women in Motion prize…
On a desert island, I would take a photo of Sugimoto
Christoph Wiesner
We also find Sophie Calle…
A regular at the Meetings who comes almost every year. To finish beautifully is a work on his series The blind, whose works, damaged by a storm, bore traces of mold. Thinking of Roland Topor’s idea of burying an old sweater that he could neither give away nor throw away, she imagined a ceremony in the cryptoporticos of Arles.
What photo would you take to a desert island?
I’ll take a photo of Sugimoto. For contemplation, because it is an opening onto the infinite horizon.
The Arles Photography Meetings, from 1is July to September 29, 2024. rencontres-arles.com
