Arles Festival

Arles Festival (Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie), an annual event conceived by the photographer Lucien Clergue, the museum curator Jean-Maurice Rouquette (both of Arles), and the writer and television producer Michel Tournier. In its inaugural year, 1970, it embraced the international photographic world with an Edward Weston exhibition at the Musée Réattu. By 1971 it was attracting figures such as Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Jeanloup Sieff, Bruce Davidson, Jerry Uelsmann and Hiro. In 2003 over 30 official exhibitions were scheduled, including work from all over the world. Held in early July, the festival includes evening slide projections in the Roman theatre, week-long workshops with leading photographers—who have included Nicholas Nixon, Sebastião Salgado, Shoji Ueda, and Édouard Boubat—and debates, café portfolio reviews, book prizes, and the chance to meet photography's international celebrities.

— Madeleine Hill Vedel