Every summer, the historic French city of Arles becomes a meeting place for photographers, artists and curious visitors from around the world. In 2026, the 57th edition of the Rencontres d’Arles⁠ runs until October 4 under the theme Worlds in View. Exhibitions appear throughout the city in churches, former industrial buildings and atmospheric heritage sites, making a walk through Arles feel like a journey between different cultures, periods and ways of seeing.

Carlos Idun-Taviah, Many Reasons to Live Again, 2022.
Courtesy of the artist and Galeria Alta.

This year’s programme pays particular attention to stories from Africa and the Mediterranean. One of its major highlights is GHANA! Dreaming Independence, 1957–1976, which explores how photography helped shape the image of a newly independent nation. Featuring photographers such as James Barnor and Felicia Abban, the exhibition brings together portraits, documentary images and historical material filled with optimism, style and political energy.

Visitors should also look out for Animal Model: 200 Years of Photography. Both thoughtful and playful, this exhibition follows the changing relationship between people, animals and cameras across two centuries. Alongside humorous photographs of dogs by Elliott Erwitt are lyrical images by Rinko Kawauchi and stories of people who formed extraordinary connections with wildlife. It is an accessible and engaging choice for experienced photography lovers and families alike.

Clément Cogitore, still from Memory Palace, 2026.
Courtesy of the artist, Walter Films and ADAGP, Paris.

The festival also celebrates several distinctive photographic voices. Soul of the City presents Martine Barrat’s warm and compassionate photographs of communities in Harlem, the Bronx and Paris, while William Klein’s This Way to Heaven reveals the bold political and experimental side of his work. Harry Gruyaert’s A Sense of Place offers another visual pleasure, using intense colour to transform streets, landscapes and everyday moments into something almost cinematic.

For something more unexpected, We Are Not Alone delves into photographs of UFO sightings and supposed encounters with extraterrestrials. Many of these images may be doubtful as evidence, but together they create an entertaining exploration of belief, imagination and photography’s complicated relationship with truth. CTRL: New Functions of Images brings that conversation into the present day by examining how digital technology and artificial intelligence are changing the ways images are created, circulated and understood.

Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Miami Beach, February 1964.
Courtesy of the artist, under exclusive license from MPL Archive LLP.

However, there is no need to experience everything at once: part of the pleasure is wandering through Arles, stopping for a coffee between exhibitions and discovering surprising images behind ancient stone walls. With its mixture of important histories, emerging talent and playful visual ideas, the 2026 Rencontres d’Arles promises to make the city one of the most exciting cultural destinations of the summer.

More information HERE.