Publisher: Le Renard Pale, France
Publication Date: 2011
Category: Artist's book
Contents: The volume brings together Patrick de Carolis's poem Tout est la en nous and the unpublished poem En Arles, accompanied by 4 photographs by Lucien Clergue and 5 colour drawings by Christian Lacroix.
Photographs and Drawings: The 4 photographs included are Belles du canyon ensoleille, Vaincre l'ombre dans l'arene, Blason des bords du Rhone, and La concession desaffectee, printed by Kathy Cooper on Ilford Warmtone paper in the photographer's darkroom; the book also includes 5 colour drawings made by Christian Lacroix specifically for this project in 2010.
En Arles is an artist's book shaped by shared memory and attachment to the city of Arles, created collaboratively by three figures who were all born there: photographer Lucien Clergue, designer Christian Lacroix, and writer Patrick de Carolis. Poetry, photography, and drawing are woven together so that the work functions not merely as a book but as a materially rich book-object rooted in place. The deluxe edition is further enriched with 3 signed original works, a black silk folder, and a collector's box, fully embodying Le Renard Pale's integrated approach to text, image, and book design.
Lucien Clergue (1934-2014) was one of the major French photographers of the second half of the twentieth century. Born in Arles, he remained deeply connected throughout his life to both the city and the landscape of the Camargue. His work spans nudes, beach nudes, bullfighting, Mediterranean landscapes, portraits of artists, and artist's books, and is especially noted for transforming the body, the shoreline, light, and curvature into a highly formal and poetic black-and-white language. In 1955, he met Pablo Picasso and developed a lasting friendship with him; he also maintained close ties with literature, music, theatre, and the visual arts, which gave his photography a distinctly interdisciplinary character.

In 1970, Clergue worked with Michel Tournier and Jean-Maurice Rouquette to launch the Rencontres d'Arles, helping turn Arles into one of the world's major centers of photographic culture. In 2006, he entered the photography section of the Academie des Beaux-Arts, becoming the first photographer elected to that dedicated seat, and in 2013 he served as President of the Academie. As an artist, publisher, and cultural advocate, Clergue not only shaped a major strand of postwar French art photography through his own images, but also left a lasting mark on the history of photography in Arles and in Europe more broadly.
Christian Lacroix (b. 1951) is a renowned French fashion designer born in Arles. Trained in art history at the University of Montpellier, the Sorbonne, and the ecole du Louvre, his practice extends across haute couture, stage costume, and visual design.
Patrick de Carolis (b. 1953) was born in Arles and is a French journalist, writer, television producer, and cultural figure. A graduate of the ecole superieure de journalisme de Paris in 1974, he created or hosted major cultural and documentary programmes, including Des racines et des ailes, and served as president of France Televisions from 2005 to 2010; he was elected to the Academie des beaux-arts in 2010.