©Mary Ellen Mark

Having just spent the first week of July at the opening round of this year’s Rencontres d’Arles (the 55th edition running from July 1st through September 29th), I can readily attest to a photographic feast that tends to overwhelm the senses with diverse photo exhibitions, installations, photo books, music and entertainment that lasts well into the night.   The first week is always lively as photographers and artists from all over the world converge on Arles to absorb the new and honor the diverse history of photography and its practitioners.  The medieval and classical buildings of Arles sprout photographs in a halcyon array that both startles and delights even the most jaded observer.  The following overview represents my personal journey through the many official and “Arles Off” exhibitions and it is not intended to be a complete record but rather the insights of a photo “flaneur” enjoying the show.

This year’s theme, “Beneath the Surface” is a deeper probe of a number of underlying themes with a particular emphasis on the creativity and often under-representation of women photographers.  The first major retrospective of Mary Ellen Mark since her death in 2015 presents a vast array of images reflecting the intense curiosity that defines her work. One can peruse her contact sheets as the exhibition follows her career through five distinct projects.  Whether photographing the homeless or twins in many sizes and shapes, her images are always compelling in their honesty and compassion.

©Mary Ellen Mark

©Mary Ellen Mark

©Mary Ellen Mark

I must confess that one of my favorite exhibitions/installations this year was by Sophie Calle, the brilliant French conceptual artist who took the proverbial, “…when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” to heart.  After a water leak in her home damaged a number of prints she had made in the 1980’s for a project entitled “The Blind”, she was informed that many of the images could not be salvaged.  This prompted her to devise an installation in the underground crypts of the Hotel de Ville that symbolically depicts the life and death of the damaged photos in various configurations.  As water drips down from the ceiling of the crypts and large puddles form, the various images as well as clothing items and a mattress with an unusual history continue to deteriorate. According to Calle, ” I want my photos to finish decomposing here and for the words I collected from each of the men and women I interviewed on the theme of beauty to sink into the bedrock of the city.”

©Sophie Calle Installation

©Sophie Calle Installation

©Sophie Calle Installation

©Sophie Calle Installation

The women photographers of Japan were also widely on display in Arles this year with Ishiuchi Miyako leading the way as the laureate for the Women in Motion prize.  Her intimate exhibition,” Belongings” focuses on the personal effects of her mother who had passed away leaving a psychological void as well as a virtual one. The tube of lipstick left behind was only missing the lips that wore it.

© Ishiuchi Miyako, Lipstick

This focus on her mother’s objects led to an offer to photograph the personal effects left behind by Frida Kahlo on the 50th anniversary of her passing.  These included the cast she wore as the result of a severe accident and a colorful pair of boots with different sized heels.

Ishiuchi Miyako, Frieda Kahlo’s Boots

Another Japanese photographer, Uraguchi Kusukazu, spent more than thirty years documenting the women of the sea or “ama” who dive for pearls, seaweed and abalone without the use of air tanks.  The exhibit is striking in its setting within the stone walls of the Abby of Montmajour just outside of Arles.  The photos from his archive have not been extensively exhibited.

©Uraguchi Kusukazu, Diver

On a decidedly more contemporary note, I explored an exhibition on graffiti with the peculiar title, “The Name of the Name” which I have yet to figure out.  The curator’s intent is to present an array of works by graffiti artists, not as vandalism but as a means to illuminate forgotten surfaces…I am not convinced of that sentiment either, but I must admit that the assembled exhibition held my attention.

Graffiti

Graffiti

Given my continuing skepticism and ambivalence regarding AI generated images vis á vis traditional photographic practice, I still had to laugh out loud at the clever project presented by Bruce Eesly entitled, “New Farmer”.  At first glance the images appeared to be archival recreations from an agricultural magazine from the 1950’s but upon closer inspection it was clear that this was the Green Revolution re-interpreted in hilarious ways using artificial intelligence.

©Bruce Eesly , AI Pumpkin

©Bruce Eesly , AI Cukes

One final note on Les Rencontres d’Arles 2024 concerns the wonderful ambiance that is created throughout the town of Arles as the world of photography descends each summer.  The profusion of creativity abounds and can be found in formal exhibitions or simply walking down a narrow street and discovering a spontaneous display in miniature by a determined photographer, Jean-Baptiste Pellerin, such as the one who showed this gem in a series:

Street Portrait

Michael S. Honegger is a visual artist born in Germany with roots in the United States and France. His practice as a fine art and documentary photographer explores the performative nature of self-portraiture, the complexities of memory and family and an investigation of the ironies of American culture with an expatriate’s eye.  He has exhibited his work in numerous juried group and solo shows throughout the United States and Europe. The Economist ,The Guardian, Newsweek, Lenscratch , All About Photo and The Eye of Photography have also published his images.  Blow Up Press published his monograph, The Need to Know, in 2023.   He is a European Content Editor for Lenscratch and currently resides in Nice, France.

Follow on Lenscratch: @michaelhoneggerphotos