Festival Information

European Nude Photography Festival
The Arles Farewell

This edition should have been numbered 21, but circumstances related to the complete disregard shown by the Municipal authorities toward the European Nude Photography Festival mean it's more appropriate to title it "The Arles Farewell."

It's not the bullfighter cutting his pigtail, but the promoter closing the arena doors!

After stingily cutting financial support last year, drastically shortening the Festival's duration, eliminating logistical and protocol assistance for the official opening, and demonstrating complete disinterest through the absence of the Mayor or Culture representative... this year brings "another turn of the screw" with the allocation of just one single exhibition venue a month before the event! The conditions obviously no longer exist to ensure a worthy event and its proper communication.

Furthermore, over the past two years, through the Culture representative, false statements have been made to me in both speech and writing, claiming "Your festival has never been excluded from the City's directions, quite the contrary"... when reality tells a different story. It would have been more honest and courageous for the Municipality to announce from the start the City's true direction regarding the Festival, avoiding all these false hopes, wasted time, disappointments for artists, and loss of credibility with our private partners!

Over more than twenty years, the European Nude Photography Festival has achieved international recognition, presented over 500 artists including renowned photographers such as Jean-François Bauret, Jean-Loup Sieff, Hans Silvester... established cultural exchanges through partnerships with other countries like Ukraine (Art Kiev Contemporary), Morocco (Marrakech Photography House), China (Beijing Photo), Italy (FESTIVAL FOTOGRAFICO EUROPEO)... but today, in a city that presents itself as the world capital of Photography, its abandonment is truly regrettable.

This edition, which could be described as thoughtful, but which returns to its usual ten-day duration, is entirely presented in private venues and galleries. It unveils a quality program featuring artists well-known to the Festival. This will probably be the last Arles edition, unless we weather the storm waiting for better days, but alternatives are conceivable, particularly in another city in the PACA region or in partnership in a neighboring country.

Wishing you all an excellent Festival.