Diverse program at the Rencontres d’Arles 2025 photo festival

Leica Camera AG will be present at the 56th edition of the Rencontres d’Arles international festival from July 7 to 12, 2025, to celebrate photography around the centenary of the Leica I. With more than 40 exhibitions installed in various exceptional heritage sites throughout the city, the Rencontres d’Arles has been contributing to the transmission of the world’s photographic heritage every summer since 1970 and has become a melting pot for contemporary creation. The Rencontres d’Arles is the oldest international photography festival. During the opening week, international photographers, journalists, gallery owners and book publishers will once again gather in the southern French city to discuss current photographic art.

Leica Camera AG, together with the Berufsverband Freie Fotografen und Filmgestalter e.V. (BFF) - Germany’s most renowned photographers’ association, will celebrate photography and photographers with several events during the professional opening week of the Rencontres d’Arles.

“Street Magic” exhibition at the Belle Etoile gallery in Arles

2025 marks Leica’s centenary celebration under the motto “100 Years of Leica I: Witness to a Century.” In 1925, Leica launched the first compact camera in history, using 35 mm film, the Leica I. It would forever change photographic practices and open up new artistic avenues for photographers. 

Street photography, popularized by the small Leica camera that could be “moved in the flow of action,” is one of the photographic trends that has endured for over a century.

The curators of the “Street Magic” exhibition, Karin Rehn-Kaufmann (Art Director & Chief Representative Leica Galleries International) and Inas Fayed (Editor in Chief Leica Fotografie International), have brought together works from the Leica archives for the first time.

The Belle Etoile gallery in Arles will present an excerpt from this exhibition featuring big names such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, René Burri, Elliott Erwitt, Jane Evelyn Atwood, and William Klein, as well as Martine Franck, Gianni Berengo Gardin, and Gilles Peress, to name but a few. 

The exhibition brings together black-and-white and color works that explore the diversity of artistic perspectives in the 20th century through their dense, geometric, spectacular, or minimalist compositions.

Exhibition from July 7 to 12, 2025
Opening on July 7 at 6:30 p.m.
La Belle Etoile Gallery
7 rue des Pénitents Bleus
F-13200 Arles

Photography talks at the Jules César Hotel

Photographers are witnesses to our world. Leica and the BFF are giving them a voice at the Jules César Hotel during a series of lectures from July 9 to 13.

Wednesday, July 9th

11.00 a.m - Benita Suchodrev’s talk– Berlin Club Culture.

3.00 p.m  –  Alwin Maigler’s talk, member of the German BFF association „step by step – heart attack by heart attack“, How to publish two photobooks at once

5.00 p.m – Ingrid Hertfelder’s talk, photographer responsible for portraits of the Stuttgart Theatre Ensemble, 30 Actors, 30 Characters and the Power of Portraiture

Thursday, July 10

11.00 a.m – Discussion with Jane Evelyn Atwood and Karin Rehn-Kaufmann about the Leica Oskar Barnack Award

Friday, July 11

11.00 a.m – Michael Schnabel’s lecture - Landscape photographer, BFF member

3.00 p.m – Lecture by Ragnar Axelsson, "The Arctic, Greenland and climate change".

5.00 p.m – Dominic Nahr’s lecture – “The challenges facing an international photojournalist in today’s world”.

Exclusive preview screening of the film “Leica, A Century of Vision”

To mark the centenary, Leica is organizing two private screenings of Reiner Holzemer’s new feature film “Leica, A Century of Vision” on Thursday, July 10, at 3 p.m. at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie in Arles. This independent film on the present and past of the Leica photography will be screened in an exclusive pre-screening.

Details of the programme can be found on the official website.

100 years of Leica: Witness to a century

In 2025, Leica Camera AG is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Leica I, the first 35mm mass-produced camera, which was introduced to the public at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1925. This groundbreaking camera exceeded all expectations with its compact, portable design, unlocking new possibilities in photography. Under the theme 100 Years of Leica: Witness to a Century, Leica Camera AG commemorates this milestone that transformed photography worldwide. Throughout the year, Leica will host international events in major cities including Dubai, Milan, New York, Shanghai, and Tokyo, showcasing cultural projects and exclusive special product editions. The highlight of the celebration will be the anniversary week in June at the company’s headquarters in Wetzlar. Additionally, the global Leica Gallery network will feature high-caliber exhibitions showcasing works by renowned photographers.