the Rencontres de la photographie

Once again this year,Montmajour Abbey is hosting two photography exhibitions as part of theRencontres d'Arles festival.

In the refectory we invite you to discover the exhibition "Ama" by the Japanese photographer Uraguchi Kusukazu, and in the chapter house come and observe the work of 9 students from theÉcole Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie d'Arles, part of the " Arles Observatoire " programme.

Ama

For more than three thousand years, the ama, Japanese 'women of the sea', have inhabited the shores of the archipelago, diving in search of seaweed and abalone. Their special place in the Japanese imagination, their sensual connection to the water, their fearlessness and sovereignty have fascinated poets and artists over the centuries. Japanese photographer Uraguchi Kusukazu, from Shima (Mie prefecture) on the Pacific coast, has devoted over thirty years to documenting the life of the ama of his region, in all its diverse aspects: deep-sea dives, harvests near the shore, portraits, collective scenes on the beach and in theamagoya (an exclusively female resting place), the daily relationship with Shintoism, culminating in the summer at the time of the matsuri ( summer festivals). Her photographs highlight the age-old practices of the ama, while capturing their energy at every moment. Nourished by their vitality and the trust they have placed in him, he has developed a visual language marked by intensity and expressivity: contrasting blacks and whites, decadence, gestures captured in their spontaneity anchor the ama in their time: the 1970s and 1980s mainly, while paying homage to their powerful and assumed femininity.

exhibition curator: Sonia Voss

Arles Observatory

At the invitation of Rencontres d'Arles, the École nationale supérieure de la photographie is presenting a selection of student projects carried out as part of Arles Observatoire. Run since 2017 by two photography teachers, Tadashi Ono and Gilles Saussier, this educational workshop offers 1st year Masters students the opportunity to confront the diversity of the Arles region. Photography is approached as a practice linked to the criteria of attention, experience, investigation and recording. Teaching a practice is never just about valuing the object or the objectivity of the practice (the images); it is also about exploring who we become through this learning and what a practice, through its dynamics, opens up in us and in the world, its relational value.Each student brings together in an editorial publication a collection of signs, forms and information in the course of his or her encounters and questioning. All the volumes published by the ENSP over the last seven years constitute an extended visual memory of the Arles area, well beyond the historical and tourist epicentre of France's largest commune.The students and their projects:

• " Arles Administratif et institutionnel " byAdam Baillon, completed in 2021
• " Le voyage d'Astérion " by Francesco Canova, completed in 2023
• " Rural architecture in the Camargue " byAntonio Del Vecchio, completed in 2021
• " Laguna " by Susanna De Vido, completed in 2023
• " Giù in fondo (Down to the bottom) " by Davide Fecarotti, completed in 2022
• " Presqu'île " by Rifat Gobelez, completed in 2022
• " AGAPE " byAlionor La Besse-Kotoff, completed in 2023
• " La tarasque - Traces " by Lila Niel, completed in 2023
• " Tombé du camion " by Valentin Russo , created in 2020

Exhibition curators: Gilles Saussier and Tadashi Ono.

"Les Rencontres de la photographie d'Arles" is a festival created in 1970 and dedicated to photography. Internationally renowned, it takes place throughout the summer in numerous venues in the city of Arles.

For full details of the programme, visit the festival website.