Sam Stourdzé

Born in 1973, Sam Stourdzé specializes in the contemporary image and the relationship between art, photography and cinema. He has curated numerous exhibitions and written several reference works. Formerly fellow ofFrench Academy in Rome - Villa Medici in 2007 in the cinema section, Sam Stourdzé was director of Les Rencontres d'Arles from 2014 to 2020, after having directed the Musée de l'Élysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, between 2010 and 2014, and served as editor-in-chief of the photography magazine ELSE. In his six years at the helm of Rencontres d'Arles, he has organized 225 exhibitions, celebrated the festival's 50th anniversary in 2019, launched a Chinese version of the festival in Xiamen (Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival) and designed the new Institut pour la Photographie in Lille with the Hauts-de-France region. At Rencontres d'Arles, he is committed to breaking down the barriers between photography and other disciplines: contemporary art, music, cinema, architecture and literature.

In 2020, Sam Stourdzé was appointed director ofFrench Academy in Rome - Villa Medici. His project revolves around the idea of mobility, whether artistic, social or European.