During the annual photo festival Rencontres d'Arles 2023 in Arles, southern France, I had the opportunity to visit the studio of the French photographer Lucien Clergue. Lucien Clergue's daughter Anne and his assistant Maja kindly allowed me to visit them, which I was very happy about.

Lucien Clergue, a grand seigneur of French photography, lived from 1934 to 2014. He became famous for his photographs of people, including early nudes. He was also a friend of Picasso, who encouraged him in his work and also modeled for him. In addition, 54 years ago, he was a co-founder of what has become the largest photo festival, Rencontres d'Arles, held annually in the southern French town of Arles.

In the studio, Maja showed me the post-shooting workflow, the lab and the archive system. The highlight was the presentation of prints from the Zebra Nude series, which are female nudes with a zebra-like shadow pattern. All images were taken in analog and in sunlight.

Many thanks to Anne and Maja for this experience.

Interesting links: Galerie Anne Clergue, Atelier Lucien Clergue, Rencontres d`Arles

My impressions from the last years in Arles: Gallery