Preview:
Les Rencontres d'Arles Photography Festival 2012
Celebrating Photography Schools
École Nationale Supérieure de Photographie was founded in Arles in 1982, and its graduates from around the world have gone on to achieve some remarkable international success.
This year, the famed photography festival in Arles celebrates the school's 30th anniversary by featuring the work of 30 photographers who began their careers at the school — as well as selected works representing other famed photography schools from four continents, and the work of several international photographers who have chosen to work in France.
To give you a flavor of the rich diversity on show this year, Lens Culture is pleased to present a high-resolution slideshow preview of more than 60 images from this year's festival.
Regarding the focus on photography school graduates, Festival director François Hébel said, "It can take ten, twenty, thirty years for an artist to develop. Students have a number of naive ideas to sift through; they are finding their way. They need to be given time to find their own vocabulary, their own aesthetic; time to free themselves from the influence of the great photographers they discover in the course of their studies. Just as one would not ask an engineering student to build a bridge, a photography student cannot be expected to show the brilliance that his or her own research and experience will eventually bring."
Enjoy, and hope to see you there, in the beautiful south of France!
Rencontres d'Arles 2012
Opening Week: July 2 - 8, 2012
Exhibitions: July 2 - September 23, 2012