If you spend several hours on Instagram looking at photos, we suggest you get your head out of your screens to admire the work of professionals in an environment dedicated to photography! Just 1 hour’s drive from Marseille, the city of Arles transforms itself every summer into an immense open-air museum to host Les Rencontres de la Photographie, one of the world’s most prestigious festivals dedicated to the eighth art! The 2025 edition will be held from July 7 to October 5, and once again promises a program as rich as it is engaging! If you’re a lover of beautiful images, human stories and inspiring walks, now’s the time to plan your artistic escapade in Provence!
A whole city dedicated to photography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29xMQ0TSIZE&t=2s
Since its creation in 1970 by Lucien Clergue, Michel Tournier and Jean-Maurice Rouquette, the festival has gone from strength to strength! Today, over fifty emblematic sites in Arles (chapels, cloisters, industrial buildings and open-air spaces) are used to host exhibitions, screenings, meetings, workshops and festive events! Every summer, more than 100,000 visitors stroll the cobbled streets of Arles to immerse themselves in a journey that showcases eclectic photography, where the intimate rubs shoulders with the political, and where yesterday’s views converse with those of today. If you love art, believe us, you’ll want to come back every year!
A rich and committed program awaits you
Under the theme “Images indociles”, the 2025 edition will feature photographs that question dominant representations, explore multiple identities and bear witness to contemporary social and environmental struggles (no less!).
In keeping with the Brazil-France 2025 Season (Emmanuel Macron and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched the France-Brazil 2025 Season, designed to celebrate 200 years of bilateral relations and strengthen ties between the two countries), several exhibitions will be devoted to the richness of Brazilian photographic creation. Among the highlights, “Ancestral Futures” will explore colonial memory through the work of young Afro-Brazilian and indigenous artists. The “Retratistas do Morro” exhibition , meanwhile, will unveil an exceptional collection of 250,000 negatives documenting life in the favelas: enough to give you both a change of scenery and an education!
But the journey doesn’t stop there! Australia offers an immersion into the spirituality of aboriginal peoples and their deep connection with the land with the “On Country” exhibition , while the United States invites you to rediscover a changing America through the “US Route 1” exhibition . Other exhibitions explore Italian, French, Japanese and Caribbean photography!
How to get to the Rencontres de la Photographie?
If we’ve convinced you and you want to pop into Arles for a day or a weekend, you’ve got plenty of options. By train, it takes less than an hour from Marseille, and theSNCF station is just 8 minutes’ walk from the city center. All the exhibitions are within walking distance. You can also come by car, which will take you the same amount of time!
If you’re patient and prefer to avoid the July and August peaks, September offers a calmer atmosphere and often lower prices (but you may lose some of the excitement of the early days). Remember to book your package online in advance to save time and benefit from discounts!
In conclusion, whether you’re a photography enthusiast or simply looking for a summer cultural outing , Les Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles is an invitation to see differently and think differently. Between emotion, reflection and wonder, a whole world of images awaits you!
📅 July 7 to October 5, 2025
📍Various locations in Arles