Leica Camera AG is a partner of the photo festival Rencontres d’ Arles 2023:
Every summer since 1970, the renowned photography festival “Rencontres d’Arles” in Arles (France) has been a major driving force and popular meeting place for the international photography scene, as well as a springboard for photographic and contemporary creative talent, with more than forty exhibitions at various exceptional heritage sites in the city. This year it will take place from 3 July to 24 September 2023. During the opening week, international photographers, journalists, gallery owners and book publishers will once again gather in the southern French city to exchange views on current photographic art.
Entitled “Women, Weapons, Warriors”, Leica Camera AG, in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie e.V. (DGPh), will be presenting works by a total of four prize winners in a small gallery from 3 to 9 July: Pepa Hristova (Steinert Award 2009), Herlinde Koelbl (Salomon Award 2001), Ana Maria Arevalo Gosen (Leica Oscar Barnack Award 2021), Rafael Heygster (Leica Oskar Barnack Award Finalist 2019; Steinert Award 2019).
Located at 26 rue du Docteur Fanton near Place du Forum, the gallery will be open from 11am to 7pm each day. From 6.30 pm, there will be a daily meet and greet with well-known personalities of the German photo scene.
During the opening week, visitors can also learn about the current Leica product range and receive expert advice at the Leica stand.
Information about the award winners:
Ana María Arévalo Gosen – Días Eternos (Eternal Days)
2021 Leica Oskar Barnack Award winner
The crisis of the Latin American penal system, and the shocking reality for jailed women, are at the centre of this moving series. Thousands of women sit in overcrowded prisons and at pre-trial detention centres. They are lacking everything: space, hygiene, medical care, but, above all, respect and justice. The Venezuelan photographer’s multi-award-winning series reports on the situation, with empathy and powerful visuals.
Rafael Heygster – I Died 22 Times
2019 Leica Oskar Barnack Award Finalist; DGPh Otto Steinert Award 2019
War is not limited exclusively to the battlefield, it already begins in the mind. Some people have developed a fascination for armed conflict, which manifests in war-like games, such as Airsoft. On the other hand, at weapons trade fairs the situation is extremely serious; it is all about politics and business. Rafael Heygster opens up a door to a covert abyss.
Pepa Hristova – Sworn Virgins
DGPh Otto Steinert Award 2009
The touching photo essay deals with Albanian women who, as a result of an ancient rite, live as sworn virgins in a male identity. There are various reasons for this. Some of them take the place of a deceased brother or father. Others deliberately choose the privileged life of a male, in an archaic society where women traditionally play a subordinate role. In Sworn Virgins, Pepa Hristova’s truthfulness and the unusual subject matter, as well as the sensitive and quiet way she presents it, have a strong impact on the viewer.
Herlinde Koelbl
GPh Dr. Erich Salomon Award 2001
In 2001, the German photographer was honoured with the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize of the German Society for Photography for “exemplary use of photography in journalism”. In the exhibition, she presents photographs from her Targets series – in this long-term project, Koelbl deals with military training and the cultural differences that are reflected in the shooting targets typical of each country.
