Rencontres d'Arles 2026 — First Look at the Revisits Programme

Location: Arles, France

Date: July 6 – October 4, 2026

Project: Four exhibitions at the 57th Rencontres d'Arles: William Klein, Martine Barrat, Harry Gruyaert, Ming Smith

Why it Matters: A centenary, a rediscovery, and two of the most distinctive eyes in street photography, all in Arles this summer.

The 57th Rencontres d'Arles opens July 6 under the title Worlds in View. The full programme is still rolling out, but one sequence is already public: Revisits, which brings together four photographers whose work pushed the form into new territory.

^{William Klein, collage for the film Mister Freedom, c. 1967, Courtesy of the William Klein Estate}

William Klein, This Way to Heaven, Chapelle du Muséon Arlaten

Curator: Raphaëlle Stopin

Klein turns 100 this year. The exhibition goes beyond his famous city books (New York, Rome, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris) and into the political, critical side of his work that most people haven't seen. Photographs, paintings, films, drawings, and previously unseen documents.

^{Martine Barrat, Block Party, Harlem, 1992, Courtesy of the artist and La Galerie Rouge.}

Martine Barrat, Soul of the City, Espace Van Gogh

Curator: Agathe Cancellieri

Barrat spent decades photographing the margins of New York, Harlem, the Bronx, the Goutte d'Or in Paris. She was never an outsider looking in. She lived in these neighbourhoods and her pictures show it. No moralising, no distance.

^{Harry Gruyaert, Waterloo, Belgium, 1981Courtesy of the artist and Gallery FIFTY ONE, Anvers.}

Harry Gruyaert, A Sense of Place, Chapelle Saint-Martin du Méjan

Curator: Géraldine Lay

Gruyaert shoots cities the way a jazz musician plays: New York, Paris, Tokyo, Moscow, Antwerp, Mumbai, Zanzibar. The destination doesn't matter. What matters is colour, shadow, and how the street arranges itself in front of him.

Opening week runs July 6–12.

More info: rencontres-arles.com