Kering has named Nan Goldin the winner of the 2025 Women In Motion Photography Award. On July 8, 2025, Kering presented the Women In Motion Award to American artist Nan Goldin at the Théâtre Antique d'Arles, during the Rencontres d'Arles photography festival. Her work, "Syndham Syndrome," supported by Women In Motion, will be exhibited at the Saint-Blaise Church in Arles.

Through her work, Nan Goldin has recast the representation of women outside of patriarchal norms, but also of overlooked communities. Her intimate and raw portraits deconstruct gender stereotypes and highlight the realities of domestic violence, desire, and marginality. Her iconic work, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, produced from 1980 to 1986, bears witness to the complexity of romantic relationships and power, giving voice to women and communities that have hitherto been ignored. By denouncing oppression and celebrating emancipation, Nan Goldin shows her unwavering commitment.

Born in 1953 in Washington D.C., USA, Nan Goldin lives and works in New York City and Paris. Nan Goldin has revolutionized the art of photography through her frank and deeply personal portraiture. Over the past 45 years Goldin has created some of the most indelible images of our times. Since the 1970s her work has explored notions of gender and definitions of normality and community.

The work Syndrome de Stendhal, exhibited at the Rencontres d'Arles this year, takes the form of a slideshow juxtaposing images of classical, Renaissance, and Baroque masterpieces with portraits of Nan Goldin's friends and lovers. The structure of the work is inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses, depicting the artist's friends and family as mythological figures such as Galatea, Orpheus, and Hermaphrodite. The artist’s voice is mixed with a captivating soundtrack specifically composed by Soundwalk Collective, to which is added a musical creation by Mica Levi. The work culminates in a reinterpretation of the famous Stendhal syndrome itself, illustrating that dizzying moment when beauty, in all its intensity, can induce fainting.

“This award is such a great honor. I’m proud to be associated with such great women photographers whom I admire and respect," declared Nan Goldin. "I have a long history with Arles, particularly in the 1980’s which had a profound effect on me and my work early in my career. I’ve returned to Arles several times since then, and I’m thrilled to be back.”

While continuing to encourage emerging talent through the Prix de la Photo Madame Figaro Arles, which it has supported since 2016, Kering launched, in 2019, the Women In Motion Award for Photography at the Rencontres d'Arles. The latter pays tribute to the career of a leading woman photographer and includes funding for the purchase of works for the Rencontres d'Arles Collection.

Previous Award recipients are Susan Meiselas in 2019, Sabine Weiss in 2020, Liz Johnson Artur in 2021, Babette Mangolte in 2022, Rosângela Rennó in 2023, and Ishiuchi Miyako in 2024.

Lauréate du Prix Women In Motion Kering aux Rencontres d'Arles 2025
Nan Goldin
'Syndrome de Stendhal'

from July 7 to October 5, 2025 (9.30am -7.30pm)
Église Saint-Blaise
Impasse de Mourgues, 13200 Arles

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