Arles Photography Festival: Success or Flop?

The 2018 edition of Les Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, France, ran from July 2 to September 23, attracting a record 18,500 visitors during the opening week and an estimated total exceeding the previous year's 125,000. With a budget of €7.2 million, public funding dropped from 35% to 23% compared to 2017. Director Sam Stourdzé, reconfirmed, assembled 151 artists and 49 curators under the theme 'Back to the Future.' Major sponsors included Olympus, Luma Foundation, BMW, and SNCF. The festival featured 30 exhibitions, awards such as the Prix Découverte (€25,000) won by Paulien Oltheten, and the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro-Arles awarded to Wiktoria Wojciechowska. The American history exhibition, curated around Robert Frank's 'Les Américains,' included works by Raymond Depardon, Paul Graham, Taysir Batniji, and Laura Henno. Despite high attendance, some peripheral venues like Feng Li's show at La Maison des Lices and the Croisière spaces saw fewer visitors. The VR Arles Festival at Couvent Saint-Césaire had long wait times. The article questions whether the festival's substance matches its scale.