“Disobedient Images”: Rencontres d’Arles 2025 Explores Photography as Resistance and Connection
Rencontres d’Arles, one of the world’s foremost photography festivals, marks its 56th edition with a compelling new theme: “Disobedient Images”. For over half a century, the festival has offered a global platform to celebrate photography as an evolving art form. This year, it positions photography not only as a means of artistic expression but as a powerful tool of rebellion, resistance, and social commentary.
In an era marked by rising nationalism, environmental crises, and political unrest, “Disobedient Images” captures photography’s role in challenging dominant narratives and fostering cultural exchange. Drawing inspiration from the thinker Édouard Glissant, whose philosophy emphasises the fluidity and interconnection of identities, the festival presents photography as a polyphonic language, one that crosses boundaries, refuses singular definitions, and continually reinvents itself.
Photography is portrayed here not as a passive or exoticising gaze but as an active form of “cultural translation”, reflecting complex social realities and engaging with the histories and struggles of diverse communities. From Australia to Brazil, and across North America and the Caribbean, the exhibitions offer perspectives that resist homogenisation and celebrate the multiplicity of cultures, genders, and origins.
A key focus of this edition is the rich photographic landscape of Brazil, showcased in the “Saison Brésil-France 2025”. Through reinterpretations of visual archives and vernacular photography, artists confront colonial legacies and highlight the voices of Afro-Brazilian, indigenous, and LGBTQIA+ communities. These works challenge and expand historical narratives, revealing new possibilities for memory and identity.
Similarly, “On Country: Photography from Australia” explores the profound spiritual connection Aboriginal peoples maintain with their land, a bond that photography captures as both an expression of cultural resilience and a response to ongoing political and environmental challenges.
Other exhibitions trace the theme of territory and transformation through varied lenses. The project “U.S. Route 1” revisits the iconic American highway to reveal economic and social fractures intensified by recent political turmoil. Meanwhile, the work of artists such as Raphaëlle Peria reflects on personal and collective memories linked to specific landscapes.
The festival also honours figures who bridge continents and generations, such as Louis Stettner, whose photography connects American street and French humanist traditions, and Letizia Battaglia, whose powerful images document Sicilian Mafia violence while celebrating the life of Palermo.
In addition to established names, Rencontres d’Arles continues to showcase emerging artists who question identity, kinship, and social bonds. Their works explore the fluid and multifaceted nature of human relationships, often challenging traditional definitions of family and community.
Through all these diverse perspectives, “Disobedient Images” affirms photography’s unique ability to bear witness, provoke reflection, and inspire transformation. It invites visitors to reconsider the power of images as spaces for dialogue, awareness, and reinvention — a message especially resonant in today’s turbulent world.
From 7 July, Rencontres d’Arles opens its doors to a festival that is as committed as ever to fostering artistic innovation and social engagement. In doing so, it reaffirms the vital role of photography in shaping how we see and understand our ever-changing world.
