Les Rencontres d'Arles - America Great Again

Culture in France

America Great Again was a major section of one of the biggest photography conventions in the world, held in the picturesque southern French town of Arles. Rosslyn Hyams reports on the higlights of Les Rencontres d'Arles, which runs until 23 September 2018. Listen to this week's Culture in France by clicking on the arrow on the photo.

One of the biggest draws for photography fans, for history fans, for art fans, from all over the world, the 49th Rencontres d'Arles saw a six percent rise in the number of visitors during the first week of July, which was reserved for photographers or associated professions.

In all 18,500 people visited in the first week alone.

In September there's less of a crush to explore the works of top ranking international photographers, old and new, working across all styles.

Among the various awards at Les Rencontres this year, the event's 20,000-euro Discovery Prize went to Dutch photographer Paulien Oltheten for his works on the La Défense business district of Paris.

And the work of two of Culture in France guests earlier in the year, UK-based South Africans Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, was acknowledged for their book War Primer 2.

It is based on the first English-language version of Bertolt Brecht’s 1955 Kriegsfibel, which combined press photographs from the world wars with short poems in an attack on war and war propaganda.

Broomberg and Chanarin researched internet images to show how contemporary conflict is reported and misreported.