From artistic singularity to formatted thinking7 reading minutes

One of the members of our editorial team recently received a definitive rejection from an art school. His work was deemed insufficiently imbued with a certain type of «critical» discourse. His testimony serves as a warning.

April 1, 2025. The jury convened by the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Photographie d'Arles rendered its decision: refusal. Faced with this categorical elimination, not having even reached the threshold of partial success that would have allowed me to revise my copy and retake the exam, all that remains is to acknowledge my incompetence.

A few months earlier, I had passed the entrance exam for this French school's Validation of Acquired Experience (VAE) program, which officially aims to certify the level of practitioners who have developed an activity, a purpose and artistic skills that are in keeping with the spirit of the school.