Sun, Shine and Shadow! 'The Tourist' by Kourtney Roy – On View at Rencontres d’Arles and as a Coffeetable Book

Until October 5th, 'The Tourist' by Kourtney Roy is on view in Arles as part of the Les Rencontres d’Arles photography festival – a must-see for anyone who enjoys walking the fine line between glamour and decay, between performance and reality. The accompanying photobook makes for a perfect piece of subversive holiday reading.

In this series, the Canadian-born artist stays true to her signature style: staged self-portraits with a cinematic aesthetic, a striking and disturbingly beautiful color palette, and an ongoing play of contrasts – between wit and darkness, convention and disruption, allure and decline.

In The Tourist, Roy constructs a seemingly familiar vacation setting – only to tilt it, with visual precision, into the surreal. The promise of leisure unravels into something far more ambiguous. The magic of this body of work lies in the subtle moment she captures – when we cross from our known world into Roy’s own exaggerated, hyper-stylized reality.

'Holidays should be relaxing, but when you're the tourist looking for a husband, the holiday soon becomes hard work. You need to keep your tan topped up, those fingernails flawless and your choice of clothes co-ordinated. You must ensure your body is well-honed and toned, in order to sport designer beachwear, fashioned from faux-snake or faux-alligator or faux-leopard. Faux is not out of place in a world of fakery where flamingos, starfish, dinosaurs and talon-like nails are all far from authentic. But amidst the imitation, we catch glimpses of reality: real cruise ships, actual beaches, genuine seagulls and an authentic alligator. Thankfully, the tourist wears glitter and spangle, so the scaly hatchling is safe, unlike his ill-fated ancestors, destined for the luxury market...' Del Barrett

Kourtney Roy has received numerous awards for her work, including the Carte Blanche PMU (2013), the Carte Blanche Pernod Ricard (2018), and the Swiss Life 4 Hands Prize (2023, together with composer Mathias Delplanque). Her photographs have been exhibited internationally, including at Jeu de Paume, Musée Nicéphore Niépce and LE BAL in Paris. Her debut feature film Kryptic is set to be released later this year.

GoSee : rencontres-arles.com & kourtneyroy.com