Every summer, Arles becomes an effervescent place where images linger in the warm Provençal air. Ancient Roman monuments, quiet streets, and sunlit cafés welcome photographers, artists, publishers, and travelers who gather for Les Rencontres de la Photographie, turning the historic city into one of the world’s great capitals of visual storytelling. This season, Louis Vuitton deepens its longstanding relationship with Arles through a newly updated edition of its City Guide Arles, accompanied by an immersive bookstore, exhibition, and a series of conversations celebrating photography, publishing, and travel. These radiant initiatives invite visitors to discover Arles through refreshing perspectives, intimate encounters, and the pure beauty found in everyday life.
A Portrait of Arles in Words and Images
Louis Vuitton City Guide Arles, Le Buste et l’Oreille, courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Since first dedicating a City Guide to Arles in 2018, Louis Vuitton has continued to revisit the city alongside the annual photography festival, treating each edition as a living document that evolves with its surroundings. The 2026 volume rejoices in that tradition, melding together cultural recommendations, personal reflections, and original photography into a beautiful portrait of the Camargue destination.
This year’s edition shines with guest contributions from Anne-Sylvie Bameule, Julie Gautier, and Pauline Capitani, the three women leading the celebrated Arles publishing house Actes Sud. Their reflections offer readers an insider’s understanding of the city, molded by decades of literary life and soulful family roots. Alongside essays by Christophe Cachera and Clara Le Fort, the guide features newly commissioned photography by Flore-Aël Surun of the Tendance Floue collective and Guillaume Blot, whose images uncover both the mesmeric landmarks and the tranquil rhythms that define everyday Arles.
Available in both French and English, the 270-page guide also becomes freely accessible in digital form throughout the festival, allowing visitors to carry Arles in their pocket as they wander its streets.
A Summer Gathering at Le Buste et l’Oreille
Louis Vuitton City Guide Arles, Le Buste et l’Oreille, courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton City Guide Arles, Le Buste et l’Oreille, courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
The printed guide flows into the city itself through Louis Vuitton’s seasonal residence at Le Buste et l’Oreille, transformed into a bookstore, exhibition space, and cultural salon for the duration of the festival. Behold, books become treasured meeting places, uniting photographers, writers, and readers through conversations and signings that toast to the exchange of ideas.
Among the prominent events are discussions with photographer Guillaume Blot and novelist Nicolas Mathieu surrounding the new City Guide Arles, alongside appearances by legendary image-makers including Sarah Moon, Julia Hetta, Paul Kooiker, Lachlan Bailey, and Bharat Sikka. Throughout the summer, the space becomes a profound element of the festival itself, beckoning visitors to spend time over books, photographs, and conversation.
Blot‘s accompanying exhibition offers another glimpse into the soul of the region through previously unseen photographs made at Bob‘s, a beloved Camargue institution where shared meals, music, and generations of local tradition continue to unfold. His images honor the warmth of communal life, preserving fleeting moments that might otherwise disappear into memory.
Expanding the Journey Through Photography
Ibiza, courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton also honors the occasion with two additions to its acclaimed Fashion Eye series: Ibiza, photographed by Lachlan Bailey, and Bucharest, by Dutch artist Paul Kooiker. While each volume journeys through a distinct destination, both evolve the collection’s trademark approach of revealing the beauty and mystery of place through personal visual narratives.
Bailey’s Ibiza wanders through glittering beaches, ethereal landscapes, and moments caught between peaceful thought and spirited nightlife. Kooiker’s Bucharest offers a different note, assembling hundreds of carefully observed fragments into a picture of a city collaged with architectural history and contemporary artistic vitality. The enveloping books confirm photography’s miraculous ability to translate atmosphere into precious memory.
With its meticulously curated guide, insightful literary programming, and new photographic publications, Louis Vuitton offers an ode to observation, allowing a marvelous city to reveal itself one captivating image at a time.
Visit LOUIS VUITTON’s POP-UP BOOKSTORE, LES RENCONTRES D’ARLES PROGRAM at LE BUSTE & L’OREILLE: 3, rue du Président-Wilson, 13200 Arles. July 6 – October 4, 2026. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 10 pm. The App is available free of charge on the App Store.
Actors waiting for their performance behind the Ancient Theatre; Arles, France, 2022. Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton City Guide Arles, Le Buste et l’Oreille, courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton City Guide Arles, Le Buste et l’Oreille, courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
