Fashion lovers, this is the exhibition not to be missed! Haute couture icon Yves Saint Laurent is honored in the industrial buildings of the Mécanique Générale. Designed based on the photographic collection of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris, the exhibition “Yves Saint Laurent and Photography” offers an immersion into the world of the couturier and a journey through the combined history of fashion and photography.
The first part presents a gallery of iconic portraits of the couturier. You’ll see more than 80 works by the great photographers of the 20th century. Irving Penn, with his famous portrait of the young Yves Saint Laurent in his early years, but also Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, William Klein, Frank Horvat, Patrick Demarchelier, Dominique Issermann, Henri Dauman, and Sarah Moon, to name just a few.
Conceived as a cabinet of curiosities, the second part of the exhibition presents more than 200 archival objects—contact sheets, catalogs, press clippings, and personal photographs—illustrating the central role of photography in Yves Saint Laurent’s work and within his fashion house. It features classics, such as the Tribute to Piet Mondrian photographed by Peter Knapp.
Equally iconic, though more discreet, Louis Stettner is the subject of a fascinating retrospective at the Espace Van Gogh. Notably, the 150 period and modern photographs of this former member of the Photo League, presented in “The World of Louis Stettner (1922-2016)” were printed by the photographer himself. This is an opportunity to (re)discover the transatlantic work of this American photographer who arrived in France in 1946.
“Louis Stettner is a bridge between American Street Photography and French Humanist. He had a lifelong passion for social issues” recalls Virginie Chardin, curator of the exhibition. “In the 1970s, he was politically active in the feminist, antiracist, and anti-poverty struggles, attracting the attention of the FBI.”
Visitors are able to admire his “Workers” series, a tribute to workers and employees around the world. “They produce everything around us: clothing, food, shelter, yet they are at the bottom of the ladder.” he lamented. Also worth seeing are his tender portraits of Parisians and New Yorkers, such as those in the Nancy series, a young American beatnik. Surprise, there will also be previously unseen prints!
Among the most anticipated retrospectives in this chapter, Letizia Battaglia’s exhibition at the Maison des Peintres (Painters’ House) features prominently. In the 1970s, the Italian photographer documented the atrocities of the Mafia while celebrating the beauty and resilience of her hometown. “Always in Search of Life” presents her creative journey through more than 100 works. Some of her most famous images are featured in the exhibition.
An opportunity to revisit this very dignified portrait of Rosaria Schifani, widow of a bodyguard murdered in the early 1990s. Or this muscular reportage photo, “The arrest of the ruthless mafia boss Leoluca Bagarella”, taken in Palermo in 1979. Less well known, Letizia Battaglia also created several magazines and founded a publishing house. The exhibition emphasizes the political and civil commitment of the artist.
“The exhibition also conveys Battaglia’s skill and determination in portraying her city and region in all their complexity, showing people’s hardships and dignity,” notes Walter Guadagnini, its curator. “Their love and joy, the beauty of young faces, the traditions of religious festivals, and the poignant realities of life in a psychiatric hospital.”
To round off this journey into the past in style, Arles has organized the first international retrospective devoted to the work that artist and activist Claudia Andujar produced in Brazil in the 1960s and 1970s, before her involvement with the indigenous Yanomami people of the Amazon, which made her world-famous.
“”In the Place of the Other” focuses on a largely unseen period of Andujar’s career and helps us understand the original work of one of Brazil’s most important living photographers.” curator Thyago Nogueira informs us. With its portraits of Brazilian families, street photography, and reflections on femininity, this section is essential for capturing the essence of her activism.
Discover these exhibitions at Les Rencontres de la photographie festival in Arles, from July 7 to October 5, 2025.
