Les Rencontres de la Photographie
Arles, France
Espace Van Gogh
Louis Stettner is the author of a major body of work produced on both sides of the Atlantic. An authentic bridge between American Street Photography and French Humanist Photography, Stettner's lifelong passion for social and political issues and the history of his craft led him to work in many forms: writing, collage, sculpture and painting. Almost ten years after his death, this exhibition sheds new light on his work. Entirely coming from a loan of the Settner archives, it presents nearly 150 historical and modern photographs printed by Stettner himself, some of them previously unpublished, as well as numerous original documents that evidence the complexity of an extraordinary personality.
Born in Brooklyn in 1922, Louis Stettner trained at the Photo League and then on the Pacific front, where he documented the ruins of Hiroshima. His 1946 series on the New York subway was noticed by Sid Grossman. It earned him a place at the Photo League school, where he was brought into contact with Willy Ronis to curate an exhibition of French photography in New York. Close to Édouard Boubat and Brassaï, he settled in Paris from 1947 to 1952, a period he considers one of the happiest in his life, leading him to settle there permanently in 1990. Travels to Europe and Mexico reveal a growing interest in the body and gesture, but it was in New York in the 1950s that he produced two of his most masterful series, Penn Station and Nancy, the Beat Generation. In the 1970s, he was politically active in the feminist, antiracist, and anti-poverty struggles, attracting the attention of the FBI while also receiving for his images of working people. Until the 2000s, he continued his urban explorations in New York and Paris, which he portrayed in increasingly fragmented ways.
Completed at over 90 years of age, his last series on the trees of the Alpilles resonates like the pinnacle of a journey guided by a thirst for freedom, resistance to headwinds and the wonder of being alive.
Virginie Chardin
Born in Brooklyn in 1922, Louis Stettner trained at the Photo League and then on the Pacific front, where he documented the ruins of Hiroshima. His 1946 series on the New York subway was noticed by Sid Grossman. It earned him a place at the Photo League school, where he was brought into contact with Willy Ronis to curate an exhibition of French photography in New York. Close to Édouard Boubat and Brassaï, he settled in Paris from 1947 to 1952, a period he considers one of the happiest in his life, leading him to settle there permanently in 1990. Travels to Europe and Mexico reveal a growing interest in the body and gesture, but it was in New York in the 1950s that he produced two of his most masterful series, Penn Station and Nancy, the Beat Generation. In the 1970s, he was politically active in the feminist, antiracist, and anti-poverty struggles, attracting the attention of the FBI while also receiving for his images of working people. Until the 2000s, he continued his urban explorations in New York and Paris, which he portrayed in increasingly fragmented ways.
Completed at over 90 years of age, his last series on the trees of the Alpilles resonates like the pinnacle of a journey guided by a thirst for freedom, resistance to headwinds and the wonder of being alive.
Virginie Chardin
CURATOR: VIRGINIE CHARDIN.
EXHIBITION PRODUCED BY THE RENCONTRES D’ARLES IN COLLABORATION WITH THE LOUIS STETTNER ESTATE.
WITH SUPPORT FROM BILDHALLE GALLERY, ZURICH AND AMSTERDAM, BOOGIE WOOGIE PHOTOGRAPHY LIMITED, HONG KONG AND THE HULETT COLLECTION, TULSA.
THE RENCONTRES D’ARLES CURATORIAL RESEARCH GRANT RECEIVES THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF JEAN-FRANÇOIS DUBOS.
PUBLICATIONS: LE MONDE DE LOUIS STETTNER, ÉDITIONS DE LA MARTINIÈRE, 2025; LOUIS STETTNER, PHOTO POCHE COLLECTION, ACTES SUD, 2025; LOUIS STETTNER, PHOTOFILE COLLECTION, THAMES AND HUDSON, 2025.
