How Arles Became a Summer Destination for World-Famous Photographers

In 1965, a pair of childhood friends set out to turn their hometown of Arles, France, into a destination for photography. Today, artists from around the world still flock there en masse to learn from the greats and shoot their shot.

You don’t need to possess an artist’s eye to recognize the beauty of Arles. From the first century, the Romans considered the town—then known as Arlate—one of the Empire’s most important economic, political, and cultural centers, given its strategic position on the banks of the Rhône. Nearly two millennia later, it gained a different sort of prominence as a haven for artists like Vincent van Gogh. In 1965, local photographer Lucien Clergue teamed up with historian (and childhood friend) Jean-Maurice Rouquette to build a collection of photography at the city’s Musée Réattu, where Rouquette held a curatorial post. Then came the magic: Over the ensuing years, the museum received more than 400 donations from the likes of Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Jean Dieuzaide, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

This overwhelming support moved Clergue and Rouquette to consider the prospect of a festival dedicated to the medium. They enlisted the help of celebrated author Michel Tournier, who had a summer home in the city, to launch the first Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles in 1970. Now known as Les Rencontres d’Arles, the festival is more than an art fair: It is a place for photophiles to come together to learn, share, and support each other in their practice.

Of the fine arts, photography is often considered the most egalitarian—all that’s needed is a camera and some film—and least dogmatic. The festival’s reputation reflects that: “People were drawn in by the warmth of the town, lively meals where unknown talent could rub shoulders with the masters, and the possibility to show their work,” says historian and photography curator Francoise Denoyelle. “There was nothing like it anywhere else.” Many who visited in the early stages of their careers later returned as exhibitors, including Magnum Foundation president Susan Meiselas, who received the festival’s Women in Motion award in 2019. “There are few festivals that are as inviting to wander, discover, and connect with other artists and the public,” she says. “There are always surprises!”

Over the years, Les Rencontres d’Arles has hosted groundbreaking exhibitions and retrospectives of works by photographers like Walker Evans, Edward Weston, and Diane Arbus, some at historic sites made accessible exclusively to festivalgoers. Today, many of the art world’s most celebrated names—including Arthur Tress, Lee Friedlander, Joel Meyerowitz, and Nan Goldin—continue to participate in the festival, contributing to its ongoing success. (A record-setting 145,000 people attended in 2023.) And this summer, as the festival enters its 54th year, visitors will once again descend on the storied French city as it champions the next generation of photographers shaping the way we see the world.

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THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 12 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!