Rencontres d'Arles 2022: Body as Battleground in Photography

The 53rd edition of the Rencontres d'Arles, curated by Christoph Wiesner, runs until September 25, 2022. Critic Raphaël Cuir selects exhibitions centered on the body. Lee Miller's show spans fashion photography (1932–1945) and harrowing images of Dachau and Buchenwald corpses (1942–1945). Babette Mangolte's photographs capture 1970s New York dance figures like Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown, and Lucinda Childs. The Verbund collection's 'Une avant-garde féministe' features VALIE EXPORT, Ana Mendieta, ORLAN, and others using self-portraiture and performance to subvert stereotypes. Works by Suzy Lake, Francesca Woodman, Alexis Hunter, Annegret Soltau, Penny Slinger, and Frida Orupabo explore masking, voyeurism, and Black female history. James Barnor's 'Young Girl With a Doll' (c. 1972) contrasts a Black girl with a white doll. Joan Fontcuberta and biologist Pilar Rosato use AI and deep learning to create 'Magnifique Agonie', a series of artificial ecstasies.