Key points
What? Participatory photo studio, free and without reservation
Where? At Bien Vivant – 3 rue de la République, Arles
When? Tuesday, July 8 (5–7 p.m.), Wednesday, July 9 & Thursday, July 10 (11 a.m.–1 p.m.)
With whom? Emma Charrin, guest artist of ArtMajeur by YourArt
How? You pose, you receive the photo by email, you share it.
Why? To experience a moment of art, leave with a beautiful photo, and enter into a collective work.
ArtMajeur by YourArt invites you to a free, collective, and participatory artistic experience in the heart of Arles, during the Rencontres de la Photographie . For three days, a free-access photo studio will be set up at Bien Vivant , a stone's throw from the Place du Forum. Enter a unique visual universe, designed by artist Emma Charrin , and leave with an unforgettable portrait.
A temporary photo studio in the heart of Arles
At Bien Vivant , at 3 rue de la République, this studio, accessible to all, offers a series of portraits taken in situ, as people pass by. A way to document, in a direct format, the diversity of Arlesian presences. No reservation is necessary: simply enter and let yourself be photographed. The device, somewhere between decor and installation, offers a simple framework to capture a presence, for the duration of a visit.
The sessions take place:
📅 Tuesday, July 8 (5 p.m.–7 p.m.)
📅 Wednesday, July 9 and Thursday, July 10 (11 a.m.–1 p.m.)
After the session, each participant receives a professional-quality portrait by email, to keep, print, and share. On social media, the hashtag #ArtmajeurInArles will allow you to discover the other faces of this participatory workshop: residents, travelers, families, friends... A living gallery of Arlesian diversity.
A photographic landscape by Emma Charrin
Baltellala#12 (©Emma Charrin & Olivier Muller) (2020), Emma Charrin, Engravings & prints, 110x138 cm
The studio is designed as a scenographic landscape , somewhere between a film set and a visual installation. This visual device is by Emma Charrin , an artist based in Paris and trained at the Beaux-Arts in Aix-en-Provence.
Winner of the Grand Prix du Jury photo de la Villa Noailles (FIMPAH 2021), her work explores the notions of representation , metamorphosis and geographical fiction . She questions the relationship between humans and their environment through photography, video, engraving and textile publishing.
Emma Charrin is particularly interested in the relationship between humans and their environment , in changing landscapes , in intermediate spaces —between city and nature, between reality and fiction. From the rooftops of La Grande-Motte to the industrial margins of Dunkirk, from Portuguese quarries to the reliefs of Minas Gerais in Brazil, her gaze captures tensions, traces, thresholds. Her hybrid practice brings photography into dialogue with painting, dance, film, and textile printing. In Arles, she designs a landscape setting that becomes the theater for each portrait, stimulating the participant's imagination.
Discover the work of Emma Charrin
A photographic tradition reinvented
The photo studio , as proposed here, is part of a long history of photographic portraiture , which it revisits with freshness and openness. Appearing in the 19th century in bourgeois studios, the practice of portraiture was then codified, reserved for an elite, posed, frozen. Very quickly, itinerant photographers democratized the use of the studio by installing their sets in fairs or in the street. The portrait became popular, accessible, mobile.
Throughout the 20th century, figures such as Malick Sidibé and Richard Avedon transformed the studio into a space for cultural, political, and personal expression. It was no longer simply a matter of resembling an ideal, but of narrating an identity , of asserting a presence.
Today, with artists like JR , the photographic studio is returning to public space. It is becoming an installation, a meeting place, a tool for collective memory. Portraits are displayed in large format on walls, sidewalks, and squares—like shared, participatory, ephemeral, and powerful artistic gestures .
The Photo Studio – ARLES by ArtMajeur by YourArt is fully in line with this dynamic: it combines the art of posing, an author's perspective, spontaneity of the moment and the desire to create a collective portrait of the city and those who pass through it.
A work to experience, a memory to take away
Participating in Studio Photo – ARLES means taking part in a living, accessible, contemporary work. It means experiencing photography as a place of dialogue , self-invention, and playing with the image. It also means extending the experience beyond the moment, through online sharing and the dissemination of these multiple portraits which together make up a human fresco.
Between artistic approach , urban experience and intimate memory , this photo studio is an invitation to see oneself differently, to put oneself in the scene, to enter the image - in every sense of the term.
📍 Practical information:
Location: At Bien Vivant – 3 rue de la République, 13200 Arles
Dates: Tuesday, July 8 (5 p.m.–7 p.m.) / Wednesday, July 9 and Thursday, July 10 (11 a.m.–1 p.m.)
Free entry – no reservation required
Share your photo with the hashtag: #ArtmajeurInArles
FAQ – ARLES Photo Studio
Do I need to book to participate?
No, access is completely free. Come during opening hours and enjoy the experience.
How long does it take?
Allow approximately 5 to 10 minutes for your session, depending on the number of people.
Is the photo free?
Yes. Participation is completely free and you will receive your portrait by email.
Can I use the photo on my social media?
Of course! You are encouraged to share it with the hashtag #ArtmajeurInArles
Who is Emma Charrin?
She is a photographer trained in visual arts and film. She designs the studio set and works on representation, landscape, and metamorphosis.
Where is the studio located?
At Bien Vivant, 3 rue de la République, in the heart of Arles.
Nicolas Sarazin
