Les Rencontres d’Arles 2012
Seeing Innovation
Rencontres d’Arles has been playing a major part in gaining recognition for photography as an art form for over four decades. Now in its 43rd year, the 2012 festival sees the presentation of 60 different exhibitions in 20 exceptional heritage sites in the city of Arles. Thanks to a programming policy that almost entirely favours unpublished works, Rencontres d’Arles has been a leader in disseminating some of the world’s best photography. This year the festival celebrates the 30th anniversary of the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie and presents works by its founders and teachers. These will be displayed alongside the international Prix Découverte 2012, The Jan Mulder Collection and monographic exhibitions dedicated to great foreign artists who have chosen to work in France, such as Josef Koudelka, Amos Gitaï and Klavdij Sluban. The festival opens 2 July and continues until 23 September. The following images are a selection from this year’s event.