Pedal to the metal! The best of Arles 2026 – in pictures

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A young man in vintage clothing rides a bicycle through a courtyard while others in period dress walk behind

The iconic photography festival is back for the 57th time with images of dogs, diners, UFOs and more

On yer bike! … Many Reasons to Live Again, 2022. Photograph: Carlos Idun-Tawiah

Tue 7 Jul 2026 08.00 CEST

An African Portrait (1976)by Paul Strand,

Independence show)Photoromance is the first major solo exhibition in France for the Ivorian photographer Paul Kodjo. A central figure in the development of a post-independence Ivorian visual culture, he was among the first African photographers to explore the photo novel. Shot in public spaces as well as domestic interiors, these photo novels reflect the country’s social and economic transformations during the ‘Ivorian miracle’, a period of prosperity and cultural dynamism in the 1960s and 1970s

GHANA-BARNOR-2 James Barnor prize annouced Organised on a six-year cycle, the prize is awarded each year to artists from different regions of Africa. The third edition of the prize is dedicated to Southern AfricaPrize winner will be announced on 8th July awards evening.

a shift away from the mountain tops of history, where victors and the tally of subjugated bodies are inscribed, toward the clearings, where other lives thrive, persistently progressing towards their own liberation.

Erimo Cape, 1976, series Ravens* Part of Forms of Life show

the anatomical gaze that observes and analyses; the performative gaze, capturing our fascination with animals; the emotional gaze, centred on our domestic companions; the fascinated gaze, celebrating the beauty of the animal world; the ethical gaze, exposing animal exploitation; the aesthetic gaze; and the viral gaze that subverts and spreads, blurring the lines between reality and fiction

Abdullahi Mohammed with Mainasara, Ogere-Remo, Nigeria, 2007* Part of Forms of Life show

Uncertain Archive show)The poster for the famous TV series the X-Files conceals a whole other story – that of a photograph taken in 1975 by Eduard Albert ‘Billy’ Meier. Renowned for his numerous books, he claimed, with supporting images, to show evidence of contact with inhabitants of other planets

Uncertain Archive show)Long before the era of fake news and AI-generated images, UFO photography shook our relationship with visual evidence. As early as the late 19th century, these blurry and often unsettling images instilled a ‘culture of visual doubt’ in our societies, foreshadowing contemporary questions about there liability of images. Faced with the vastness of the cosmos to which they allude, they also invite us to humble ourselves by embracing the unexplained and enigmatic facets of our world

Uncertain Archive show)Through a rich selection of archival documents and contemporary works, the exhibition aims to navigate the mysterious realm of ‘alien images’, where fiction and reality are intertwined at will

Uncertain Archive show)Being There assembles a gallery of familiar images – fragments of life once preserved in family albums, capturing fleeting celebrations and intimate moments. Originally taken in 1950s and 1960s North America, the photographs reflect an era of economic recovery and Cold War tensions, but also one of racial segregation and civil rights struggles. Lee Shulman and Omar Victor Diop intervene in these seemingly care-free scenes, introducing a black presence where one would have been historically impossible. Their project disrupts the aesthetic innocence of these images, transforming them into powerful commentaries on race, class, and historical exclusion.

Grasshopper and Wheat Stalk, Voulangis, France, circa 1920. (Part of Forms of Life show)Edward Steichen’s Nature reflects his deep fascination with nature, revealed through rarely exhibited works from Luxembourg-based collections and remarkable loans from the Estate of Edward Steichen.

ingest and reconstitute a wide range of practices and ideas,” explains Oppenheim.

Twins, Amoeiro, Galicia, Spain, 1986*Part of the Journey show andthe FNAC photographic collection. From its inception, Fnac was driven by its founders’ commitmentto photography, assembling one of the most significant corporatephotography collections in France in 1978. Spanning nearlya century in the history of the medium, the 1,800 prints thatmake up the collection are held at the Musée Nicéphore Niépce.

How to Make Love, New York, 1954To mark the centenary of his birth, the exhibition showcases the artist’s commitment,combining photographs, paintings, films and drawings,and reveals many previously unseen documents. In a corpusthat is as caustic as it is visionary, William Klein portraysthe visual spectacle provided by the mass media and the powersystems they perpetuate. The artist methodically dismantlesthe well-oiled mechanics of the image as formatted by thepress and then nascent television, rearrangingthem in a deliberately corrosive way.

Revists show)Martine Barrat was driven by her enduring curiosity about the street, its codes and its ways of life. Never moralising, she is an integral part of the neighbourhoods she photographs. She knows that, despite the harshness oftheir environment, the residents continue to live and love, and that it is her responsibility to photograph them with respect and commitment. The scenes, people and gestures captured on film thus form a celebration of life and human relationships

Revists show)

Revists show)Ming Smith’s photographs foreground softness and movement – blurred contours, spectral figures and cityscapes that feel remembered rather than recorded. These are not stylistic effects but deliberate modes of attention. Faces dissolve, bodies merge with their surroundings, and identity remains unresolved, shaped by time, light and lived sensation

Oasis Foam soaked with Water/Cabomba, 2019 (Part of Forms of Life show)Contemporary photography offers a renewed interpretationof the floral theme. Far from being purely ornamental,flowers have become a means of exploring life andexperimenting with the image.

Adaptive Radiation #1, 2025 (Upwelling: Forms of Life show)series State Shift, 2024–2026, Upwelling, considers the complex nature of our relationships to the landscape, the sublime, time, and impermanence. An Upwelling is both an essential oceanic process that renews ecosystems, and a term used to describe a growing emotional or political momentum.

Work Under Tension)Established after the war, the Société pour le Développementdes Applications de l’Électricité (SODEL) was responsible for promoting the use of electricity. SODEL commissioned numerous photographers, initially to celebrate major engineering projects and their landscapes, presenting a monumental and modern vision of electricity. The photographs featured in this exhibition reflect the importance ascribed to the aesthetic and documentary representation of the electricity industry

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