Arles ‒ the eagerly awaited date for photographers

Arles ‒ Capital of Photography

Arles becomes the capital of photography every summer. With its internationally recognized festival “Les Rencontres d'Arles”, the small town in southern France, located on the banks of the Rhône near the Camargue, has been welcoming photographers, artists and enthusiasts from all over the world since 1970 to discover, exchange and be inspired by a rich and eclectic program of contemporary photography for a whole summer.

In addition to the official program of the Rencontres, many artists, collectives and galleries come to present their projects. Arles has hosted many renowned artists in the past and has produced many talents – which makes this small city in southern France an undisputed center of art photography that attracts thousands of visitors interested in photography every year.

This year, WhiteWall is once again pleased to support various projects on the fringes of the Rencontres.

On the Vastness of our identities ‒ Fotohaus Arles 2024

As a photo lab, WhiteWall is pleased to once again support an artist collective as part of Fotohaus Arles 2024. This year, Institute Contemporary is invited by the Paris-Berlin Fotogroup to exhibit an integrated project at the Manuel Riviera-Ortiz Foundation.

On the Vastness of our Identities addresses the differences and similarities that Delali Ayivi, Monika Ribeiro, Verdiana Albano, Ange-Frédéric Koffi and Maryam Touzan have identified in their work and in their reflections on the meaning and freedom of their personal choices in the search for their identity as Afro-Europeans. By addressing and documenting fragmentary visited countries, biological origins, geographical borders, ideologies, structures, customs and traditions, they question existing narratives and postcolonial structures in order to redefine their own position in a global society. In the face of the spectrum of possibilities, these artists move back and forth between nature and human creation, history and promises for the future, borders and connections, stereotypes and perspectives.

FOTOHAUS ARLES, 2024 - Les Rencontres de la photographie 2024 Arles Associé - Fondation Manuel Riviera-Ortiz - 18, rue de la Calade, 13200 Arles - Exhibition 01/07 - 29/09 2024 - Monday to Sunday I 10h-19h30.

Photo: Venavi (twins) by Delali Ayivi Creative Direction: Malaika Nabillahtou From the Denim Dreams series, 2023 Creation for Photo Vogue and Levi's Open Call.

Get to know the curator and artist Verdiana Albano in an interview.

2 men lie on the ground against a wall, raising their legs in the air
prints exhibited on a white wall

"On The Vastness of Identities" - FOTOHAUS Arles 2024

Prints exhibited on a white wall. View of a window in the background

"On The Vastness of our Identities" - FOTOHAUS Arles 2024

"On the Vastness of our Identities" - FOTOHAUS Arles 2024
photo of a rear-view mirror taken from inside a car. The landscape is visible in the rearview mirror.

Photo: Rear Mirror by Verdiana Albano - 2022 - Nevada

Photo printed on aluminum Dibond (direct print), frame ArtBox aluminum

a collage combining photos and maps

Photo: There are multiple roads to home by MAryam Touzani

From the series: Argania: lack of information is my family history - The Netherlands / Morocco 2021

Fine Art Print on aluminum Dibond

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Venavi (twins) by Delali Ayivi Creative Direction: Malaika Nabillahtou From the Denim Dreams series, 2023 Creation for Photo Vogue and Levi's Open Call 125x100cm Direct print on aluminum Dibond

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Photo: Untitled by Ange-Frédéric Koffi - Bamako, Mali - 2016

Fine Art Print printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag paper

Beneath The Surface

Another project supported by WhiteWall: the exhibition organized by ProfiFoto from July 1 to 7, 2024 at the Galerie La Grande Vitrine.

ProfiFoto presents 40 international photographers as part of the OFF program of the Rencontres d'Arles 2024 under the theme BENEATH THE SURFACE. The exhibition, carefully curated by Petra and Thomas Gerwers, reflects the spectrum of contemporary professional photography.

Almost 150 photographers from many European countries and even some from China and the USA, including more than half women, took part in the call for entries.

“It is the dream of many photographers to be able to exhibit at the Rencontres d'Arles. We offer international photographers this opportunity in our pop-up gallery in a professional setting. Since our debut in Arles in 2022, the project has matured considerably in terms of both quality and quantity,” says Thomas Gerwers, publisher of ProfiFoto.

GALERIE LA GRANDE VITRINE, 12 rue Jouvène, 1-7 July, daily 11 am-7 pm. Opening Monday, July 1

Photo: Armand El Tamboly Quist, I will always be a stranger.

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four prints exhibited on a white wall

"Beneath the Surface" - Galerie La Grande Vitrine, Arles 2024

Furyo - Possible Uopia by Alessandro Celante, Brazil.

Photo print on aluminum Dibond, 80x120 cm

Clean Ocean by Michael Himpel, Germany

Photo print behind glossy acrylic glass

False or True par Maryna Syrovatka, Ukraine

Photo print on aluminum Dibond

Rifletti prima di riflettere by Susanne Bartels, Germany

Photo print on aluminum Dibond

The products presented in the exhibition

Past Events in Arles

Submitted by WhiteWall Team

panoramic view of the city of Arles.

Arles - the eagerly awaited date for photographers

Every year since 1970, the whole world of photography has met in Arles to discover new work, discuss the scene and enjoy a rich and eclectic program around contemporary photography. Beyond the official program of "Les Rencontres d'Arles", many artists, collectives, and galleries come to share their own projects. 

Submitted by WhiteWall Team

DOCKS Collective flooded Ahr Valley.

DOCKS Collective - "A Year Along the Banks"

The Rencontres de la Photographie d'Arles - an institution since 1970 - has turned this small town in the south of France into what is now an internationally recognized center of photography. Discover, among others, the DOCKS Collective works produced by WhiteWall, showing documentary impressions of the devastating floods in the Ahr Valley from 2021.