Friday, July 16, 2010

Rencontres d’Arles 41st Edition



France’s celebrated Rencontres d’Arles is perhaps the most important annual photographic event in the world.
Over the years Arles has played host to many of the most significant figures in photography. Ansel Adams, Brassai, André Kertesz, Martin Parr and most recently Nan Goldin have all graced the programme, which comprises exhibitions examining contemporary photographic practice and emerging markets – Argentina this year – as well as themed retrospectives such as a Mick Jagger series.

Antoine D'Agata showed work from his Jerusalem series in a show curated by by Christian Caujolle alongside work by Michael Ackerman, Sugimoto, Anders Petersen, and Chris Marker – where seemingly distinctions between art and documentary were rendered irrelevant. D'Agata's images from Jerusalem and the Crush-art body of work by Marker were both presented as grids, each with its own emphasis on how the human face might become inhuman, whether through acts of war or a more abstract process.

Jerusalem is shown above together with a portrait of Antoine I made after I bumped into him on the terrace at Bataclan one morning in May.

The 41st edition of the Rencontres d’Arles opened on Saturday 3 July and will run until 19th September 2010.

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