festival highlights
Our feature focuses on specific exhibitions and projects, but both festivals offered plenty more that are worth mentioning. Here are a few of our selected personal highlights from Les Rencontres d’Arles and Athens Photo Festival.
les rencontres d’arles
rajesh vora (india)
Everyday Baroque
Rajesh Vora takes us to India with his vibrant images of rooftop sculptures in Punjab’s countryside.
©Rajesh Vora.
Mehat Village, Kapurthala District, Punjab, 2014. Courtesy of the artist / PHOTOINK
cristina de middel (spain)
Journey to the Center
Cristina de Middel’s exhibition, one of our favorites, adds another layer to our understanding of migration
©Cristina De Middel.
Back Again [Volver Volver], Journey to the center series, 2021. Courtesy of the artist/Magnum Photos.
sophie calle (france)
Neither Give nor Throw Away
Sophie Calle took us to the cryptoporticus below the town hall of Arles which was the perfect location for her poetic installation including images, infested with mould spores caused by a storm.
©Sophie Calle. Finir en Beauté, 2024. Courtesy of Anne Fourès.
I’m So Happy You Are Here
Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now
One of the 3 group shows of Japanese photographers, I’m So Happy You Are Here presents a female perspective on Japan since the 1950s by more than 25 photographers from different generations. A must-see for all Japan aficionados.
©Kawauchi Rinko. Untitled, the eyes, the ears series, 2002-2004. Courtesy of the artist / Aperture.
lahem (china)
Modernity’s Fracture: The Odyssey of Returning Hometown
Lahem's exhaustive trilogy, a tribute to his hometown Sibei, won the Jimei × Arles Discovery Award 2023.
©Lahem. Celebrating the New Year, 2013-2018. Courtesy of the artist.
Mazibuko has been honored with two awards for her poignant portrait of South Africa's post-apartheid generation:
The public award of the Arles Discovery Award Louis Roederer and the Prix de la photo Madame Figaro Arles 2024. Congratulations!
©Tshepiso Mazibuko. Thapelo, Thokoza, 2017-2018, Ho tshepa ntshepedi ya bontshepe series. Courtesy of the artist.
mary ellen mark (usa)
Encounters
A major retrospective of the photography master!
©Mary Ellen Mark. Rekha with beads in her mouth, Falkland Road, Mumbai, India, 1978. Courtesy of The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation / Howard Greenberg Gallery.
miyako ishiuchi (japan)
Belongings
Ishiuchi's retrospective, featuring three powerful series on mourning and memory, is another outstanding exhibition by a Japanese female artist and winner of this year’s Women in Motion Prize
©Ishiuchi Miyako. ひろしま/hiroshima #37F donor: Harada A., Courtesy of the artist / The Third Gallery Aya.
chia huang (taiwan)
Silence is Speaking
Congratulations to the winner of the Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents. Her series, a portrait of two autistic brothers in a small town in Taiwan deserved the recognition it received.
©Chia Huang
athens photo festival
eirini androulaki (greece)
Didn’t mean to keep you waiting
Androulaki's project invites viewers to contemplate the profound questions of life and death via her visual exploration of a suicide in early 20th century.
The project was presented in the Young Greek Photographers section.
m’hammed kilito (morocco)
Before It’s Gone
Kilito's documentation offers a unique glimpse into life in Moroccan oases and evokes the threats of their existence.
peter pflügler (austria)
Now is not the right time
Pflügler's work is a moving exploration of intergenerational trauma caused by the sucicide attempt of a close family member.
akshay mahajan (india)
People of Clay
Mahajan's work is a thought-provoking exploration of Rajbanshi identity and the consequences of colonial classification presented as a collage of of text, images and archival materials.
emilia martin (poland)
I saw a tree bearing stones in the place of apples and pears
Martin shares her passion for old myths with a comparison of sacredness in rocks and religious relics.
The project was also shortlisted in Arles for the Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents.
seif kousmate (morocco)
Waha واحة
Kousmate's series on the complex system of oases is a powerful reminder of our interconnectedness with the natural world
ismail ferdous (bangladesh)
Sea Beach
Ferdous’ work is a colorful and nostalgic portrait of Cox's Bazar beach, that is a microcosm of Bangladeshi society.
mashid mohadjerin (iran)
Freedom is Not Free
Mohadjerin’s kaleidoscope of historical and personal narratives offers an exhaustive exploration of women’s resistance in the Middle East and North Africa, and particularly in her native Iran.
nadia ettwein (south-africa)
Hond
Ettwein’s work is a captivating story about generational trauma and search for self-identity in a post-apartheid society.