In February 1968, the Musée Cantini held its first photography exhibition, L'ŒIL OBJECTIF [Objective Eye], featuring Robert Doisneau, Denis Brihat, Lucien Clergue and Jean-Pierre Sudre. Around the same time, one of the pioneers of the Rencontres d'Arles, Jean-Claude Gautrand, was awarded the Grand Prix de la Ville de Marseille for photography. Together with the Bibliothèque nationale and the Musée Réattu, the Musée Cantini thus took on a pioneering role, building up a collection that reflected regional events such as the Rencontres d'Arles and the Festival d'Avignon. Drawing from the holdings of the Musée Cantini, the [mac] and the Fonds Communal d'Art Contemporain, L'(ŒIL) OBJECTIF provides a new perspective on the collections. From the optical games of the Nouvelle Vision movement to the documentary work of Valérie Jouve and the staged works of Man Ray, the exhibition provides a wide-ranging approach to photography and the diversity of viewpoints it produces.


Admission included with the Rencontres d’Arles 2024 pass