Les Rencontres d’Arles 2025 : Four Bold Visions
Les Rencontres d’Arles 2025 : Four photographers represented by the gallery offer unflinching reflections on identity, memory, and place.
As the summer sun scorches the cobblestones of Arles, the city once again transforms into a stage for photographic innovation. At the heart of Les Rencontres d’Arles 2025, a leading international festival for photography, four artists represented by the gallery take center stage. Each one offers a distinctive voice, from intimate narratives to bold socio-political commentary.
Let’s take a closer look at these compelling exhibitions that span the introspective, the poetic, and the provocative.
TODD HIDO : Portents of an Inner Glow
Espace Van Gogh, Arles
American photographer Todd Hido returns with his unmistakable visual language, moody, cinematic, and profoundly evocative. His work, long admired for its ability to evoke feeling rather than define narrative, captures fog-laced roads, anonymous suburban houses, and ghostlike landscapes. Often, he shoots through rain-streaked windshields or in unforgiving weather, which only deepens the atmosphere of his imagery.
Consequently, Hido’s photographs transcend mere documentation. They are not just landscapes; instead, they become emotional states rendered visible. Furthermore, the images suggest stories that are never fully told, offering viewers a space for personal interpretation.
In Portents of an Inner Glow, mountains dissolve in rain, while trees stand as silent sentinels of memory. Meanwhile, melancholy homes, lit from within or shrouded in snow, stare back blankly, evoking a haunting stillness. These visual elements, when combined, lead to a powerful introspective journey.
Thus, what Hido offers is not simply a view, but an invitation to linger in the space between solitude and familiarity, past and present, comfort and unease. Through his lens, the world becomes suspended in a poetic haze, where beauty flickers just beneath the surface of silence.
KAREN KNORR & ANNA FOX : U.S.A.1 After Berenice Abbott
Palais de l’Archevêché, Arles
Between 2016 and 2024, British photographers Karen Knorr and Anna Fox set out on a road trip across the United States. Inspired by Berenice Abbott’s lesser-known Route 1 project, they followed the historic highway from Florida to Maine, making stops in cities and small towns along the way.
At each stop, they photographed daily life—motels, diners, pharmacies, cafés, and quiet main streets. In doing so, they documented the ordinary moments that often go unnoticed. At the same time, they captured the cultural and social shifts shaping the country today.
Importantly, this series is both a tribute and a reflection. While honoring Abbott’s legacy, Knorr and Fox also question what remains of the American dream. They used a range of tools from smartphones to large-format cameras—which added variety and texture to their images.
As a result, their photographs reveal a nation full of contrasts: past and present, decay and hope, stillness and change. Route 1, once a major lifeline, now feels like a forgotten thread. Yet through their eyes, it becomes a powerful symbol, one that connects memory, identity and the passage of time.
DIANA MARKOSIAN : FATHER
Espace Monoprix, Arles
In Father, Diana Markosian tells a moving and personal story. It begins when her mother, without warning, takes Diana and her brother and leaves Russia. They move to the United States, leaving her father behind and unaware.
As a result, her father wakes up to an empty home and a note on the kitchen table. From that day forward, he spends the next fifteen years searching for the children he lost. At the same time, Markosian grows up far away, filled with questions and memories of someone missing.
To explore this emotional journey, she combines different materials, documentary photos, old family pictures, and personal videos. All together, they build a story that feels like a film, rich in emotion and meaning.
Through this powerful project, Markosian looks back at the pain of separation, the long silence, and the hope of connection. Father is not only about what was lost, but also about what might still be found. It gently asks what it means to forgive, to remember, and to begin again.
KOURTNEY ROY : LA TOURISTE
Ancien Collège Mistral, Arles
In La Touriste, Kourtney Roy invites us into a strange and beautiful world. As always, her signature style is there, bold self-portraits, rich colors, and a mix of glamour, humor, and mystery.
This time, Roy creates a story where the ordinary feels like a movie. The tourist, played by Roy herself, travels through surreal places, empty motels, quiet roads, and faded holiday spots. Step by step, reality begins to shift.
Because of this, the line between truth and fantasy becomes hard to see. Everyday scenes turn into stage sets. What looks familiar suddenly feels strange. In doing so, Roy pushes us to question how we see the world around us.
At the same time, La Touriste is playful and unsettling. It makes you smile, then surprises you. With each photo, Roy builds a universe that is both dreamy and disturbing. It’s an irresistible mix, one that keeps you looking, guessing, and wanting more.
Les Rencontres d’Arles 2025 : A Collective Impact
Together, these four exhibitions reflect the pulse of our times fragmented, strange, and deeply human. From Hido’s silent roads to Roy’s vivid tableaux, each artist challenges us to see differently.
Les Rencontres d’Arles 2025 becomes not just a celebration of photography, but a mirror held up to our uncertain era. Through lens and vision, these gallery artists show us that even in fractured landscapes, clarity and beauty can still emerge.
Want some more ? Take a look at : WhiteWall & IRK Galerie Combine Forces During Rencontres d’Arles Photo Festival
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Amélie JOUISON is a fashion photographer and art director.
She likes to question the status of the image as a woman, incorporating a point of humour, burlesque and creating discomfort.
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