- Publisher's life
My First Photo Festival–A Week at Rencontres d'Arles
Maitreya, an intern at SHIFT BOOKS, details her experience attending one of Europe’s largest photography festivals with the team.
Info
Rencontres d’Arles
July 1 – September 29, 2024
in Arles, France
- by Maitreya Ravenstar
One doesn’t typically expect to escape 30 degree summer heat in the underbellies of an ancient Roman crypt on a work trip, but last week with SHIFT BOOKS at the Rencontre d’Arles, that is exactly what we did. Sophie Calle’s latest exhibition lay on display in the city’s cryptoporticus, featuring her collection of portraits of the visually impaired and their perceptions of beauty, defined. The portraits faced their own quotes which leaned on the floor against the cold stone, slowly degrading upon the artist’s wish near puddles of underground water. This was just one of over 50 exhibitions dotting the city that inspired Van Gogh’s paintings and the surrounding area. We spent the week hitting as many as we could, viewing a diverse display of what photography can be, such as the retrospective of traditional documentary work from Mary Ellen Mark, the more conceptual, socially motivated work from Debi Cornwall that explores the United State’s unsettling employment of power, and the tasteful still lives of Ishiuchi Miyako that capture her late mother’s belongings.
Sophie Calle’s exhibition, “Neither Give Nor Throw Away”, Rencontre d’Arles 2024, © Maitreya Ravenstar
A street view of Arles, © Maitreya Ravenstar
Patti Smith by Mary Ellen Mark in her exhibition “Encounters”, Rencontre d’Arles 2024, © Maitreya Ravenstar
I’m interning at SHIFT BOOKS this summer, but I live and go to school in New York, so getting to attend one of Europe’s largest photography festivals was such an exciting opportunity for me. Not only were there copious exhibitions to attend, but there were also many talks and tours and signings. This was my first professional festival, so I was eager to take advantage of the stream of knowledge freely available throughout the week to the public attendees. One that left a profound impression on me was Cristina De Middel’s exhibition tour of her project, “Journey to the Center,” which presents migration from Central America to the United States as a heroic journey with nods to the novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”
The artist spoke about America’s opposing perspectives on Mexico, both envisioning it as a natural oasis of beauty and adventure “where anything is possible”, as well as villainizing and even fearing the immigrants who hail from it. She reflects this tension through surreal imagery of the “official” center of the world, a small town in California with a view of the border fence, a portrait of woman a few hours before crossing the border wearing a pullover with Donald Trump’s face on it, and photos of Mexican athletes training next to the wall; one image shows a man ready to pole vault right over it. Getting to hear the artist’s anecdotes and thought process gave me such a deeper understanding of the series, its topic so relevant and important back home.
Cristina de Middel’s exhibition, “Journey to the Center”, Rencontre d’Arles 2024, © SHIFT BOOKS
Cristina de Middel’s exhibition, “Journey to the Center”, Rencontre d’Arles 2024, © SHIFT BOOKS
Location of “Starry Night Over the Rhône” by Vincent van Gogh, Arles, © Maitreya Ravenstar
Kawauchi Rinko, group show, “I’m So Happy You Are Here”, Rencontre d’Arles 2024, © Maitreya Ravenstar
Martha Cooper, group show, “All in the Name of the Name”, Rencontre d’Arles, 2024, ©Maitreya Ravenstar
Of course, perhaps most exciting for our group, was the multitude of photobooks displayed and sold throughout the festival. There was the Arles Book Fair, which expanded across two locations, the Luma Rencontres Dummy Book Award and the Rencontres d’Arles Books Award, all of the nominees for both displayed at the Luma museum, and the Fotobus Society Library Award which SHIFT BOOKS’ Solomiya Nr. 3 was shortlisted for, also on view to the public. It was amazing to see so many examples for what a photobook can be, centralized in one place. All the sellers seemed eager to answer questions and open to letting you touch and flip through their books. I purchased a memoir by the Australian photographer Max Pam, “The Contingency of Eye Contact”, which was nominated for the Rencontres d’Arles Books Award. I mentioned that I had seen it on display to the seller, who chased me down after I left their table to give me their nominee sticker in case I wanted it as a souvenir to go with the book.
All of the ineffable photography I saw over the week aside, just being in the city of Arles was full of such wonder. I got to sit at the edge of the Rhône, walk the circumference of an ancient Roman colosseum and eat Provence lavender ice cream. Being surrounded by hundreds of other photography enthusiasts was such a surreal and new feeling for me; I left as inspired by the images I saw and the artists who made them as I was by the invisible curators and book makers and construction workers who made it all possible. I hope I can return again soon.
Signed and dedicated book “The Last Resort” by Martin Parr, Rencontre d’Arles 2024, © Maitreya Ravenstar
Maitreya Ravenstar is an intern at SHIFT BOOKS, senior at Skidmore College studying Multimedia Journalism
Maitreya has worked as a News Assistant for Skidmore College’s Office of Marketing and Communications since 2022. Her publication “but as the clouds descended on us, I could see you” was selected for Printed Matter‘s Decolonization, Resistance, and Interconnected Solidarity table and her articles have been published by the School Renewal Journal, IES Abroad, and Scope Magazine.
Keep up with the latest in SHIFT BOOK’s community newsletter.
