Inside the Opening of Dior’s “The Art of Color” Exhibition in Arles, France

In the picturesque city of Arles, Dior hosted its annual Photography & Visual Art Award for Young Talent. Done in partnership with LUMA, the competition continues the mission that began in 2018. Hundreds of photographers from around the world responded to the prompt “Face to Face.” Out of the submissions, twelve laureates and a winner were chosen by an esteemed group of jurors, including Maja Hoffman, Samuel Fosso, Maya Rochat, and Estefania Penafiel Loaiza. 

Artists, editors, collectors, and creatives descended on the coastal city, whose stone foundations date back to the Roman Empire. The town once served as a favorite destination for Vincent Van Gogh. (After he famously severed his ear, the painter stayed in the Old Hospital of Arles). Five years ago, LUMA—an arts center and the brainchild of Hoffman—established Arles as a cultural epicenter.

In the shady lobby of Hôtel L’Arlatan, Fosso, encircled by journalists and admirers, held court. The Nigerian artist remains one of the most celebrated photographers of his generation for his self-portraits that engage, through a series of personas, the history of Africa. Leading institutions— including the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York—have exhibited his work. With the help of an amateur translator, Fosso mused on his role as a juror and, more broadly, his global encouragement of young talent. 

“They are the future,” Fosso, 62, said of the finalists. “I am not the past, but I am not the future. Young photographers are the future, and I am captivated by what they propose.” 

Across the hotel, Rachel Fleminger Hudson, winner of the award, discussed her latest, career-altering achievement.

“I think because it is very life-changing that it is overwhelming,” she said.

Hudson’s work shows a clear emphasis on materiality. She fastidiously costumes her subjects with an art historical attention to detail. A recent graduate of Central Saint Martins, where she studied fashion, the photographer spoke about balancing her discomfort with fashion as a commercial entity and her reverence for clothes as means of storytelling. 

“I engage with clothes as costume,” Hudson explained. “It’s not fashion because it does not seek to be fashionable.”

Later that evening, Hudson’s work hung alongside that of the rest of the laureates. The exhibition, “The Art of Color,” displayed the medium’s capacity for provocation and innovation. The images ranged from Jesus Torio’s bright abstractions to Joseph Craven’s cinematic seductions.   

In the shadow of the Frank Gehry Luma building—a fantastic, glittering silver tower—guests drank champagne and mingled with the artists. There, the jurors formally announced Hudson as the winner. 

At a celebratory dinner, as the light began to fade, revelers enjoyed a summer feast and spoke about culture, ideas, and current events. In a time when so much seems to threaten the future, the talent gathered by Dior offered a reassuring sign of what is to come.