Street, art and street art

We start our day of meandering around the eclectic works in Parade photography festival by heading for Arles' main square. At every turn there's street art to admire and give colour to the higgledy piggledy alleyways. There's the first hat purchase en route and then our first port of call is a beautiful civic building.

One of the most unique elements is that the exhibits are housed in a enormous variety of spaces from ornate classical buildings resplendent in stained glass, friezes, chandeliers and vaulted ceilings to vast abandoned, warehouses. The first one is full of group photographs, from the mundane, the quirky and the very odd. They are much more compelling than they may sound.

Then we examine the works by a couple who've won a BMW competition for artists in residence. Most of their work is finding often kitsch images online and combining them with other found images. Perhaps a little contrived and again maybe not displaying the skills of a photographer perhaps rather photoshop and unearthing Internet curiosities.

David Bailey's popular offerings are more what you'd expect from such an exhibition and are hung in a minimalist white vaulted room. It's a popular exhibit with plenty of people stroking their chins in front of each picture.

 

 

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