Each summer, Arles becomes an international hub for photography, with work shown in galleries, warehouses, and courtyards across the city. At this year’s Rencontres de la Photographie, one exhibition stands out: Yves Saint Laurent and Photography, presented at the Mécanique Générale on the LUMA campus.

This is not a standard fashion photography show. It is a study of a designer who understood the relationship between clothing and image. From Irving Penn’s portrait of a young Saint Laurent in 1957, as he began at Dior, to Patrick Demarchelier’s photograph in 2004 after his retirement, the couturier placed himself in front of the camera as much as behind his collections. He built his public image with the same discipline he gave to his work in the studio.

The exhibition follows this process through the work of photographers including Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Cecil Beaton, Guy Bourdin, Robert Doisneau, Jean-Paul Goude, François Halard, Horst P. Horst, William Klein, Annie Leibovitz, Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel, Helmut Newton, Marc Riboud, Paolo Roversi, Lord Snowdon, Juergen Teller, Inez & Vinoodh, Ellen von Unwerth, and Andy Warhol.

The presentation unfolds in two sections. The first brings together more than eighty portraits that chart the growth of both the designer and his house; a highlight includes Andy Warhol’s vibrant portrait of Saint Laurent. The second recreates a working archive, with dark green walls lined with contact sheets, Polaroids, press clippings, magazine covers (and there were many) and cameras. More than two hundred objects map out not only Saint Laurent’s success but also his strategy of self-presentation, especially in the media-driven 1980s.

The exhibition also touches on the people who shaped his story. A short video interview with Catherine Deneuve, Bettina Rheims, Betty Catroux, filmed by Loïc Prigent closes the show, adding the voice of one of his closest collaborators.

Curated by Simon Baker with Elsa Janssen and accompanied by a Phaidon catalogue, Yves Saint Laurent and Photography shows how an image can shape a legacy. On view at the Mécanique Générale until 5 October 2025.

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Images: Irving Penn. Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, 1957. Courtesy of The Irving Penn Foundation / Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent and Guy Bourdin.
Models from the Fall-Winter 1976 haute couture collection, also known as “Opéra–Ballets Russes,” Sheraton Hotel, Vogue (Paris), September 1976.
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent / The Guy Bourdin Estate 2025. With the kind permission of Louise Alexander Gallery / Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent.