This long-standing annual Prize, originally established in 1996, is one of the most important international awards for contemporary photographers. The Prize spotlights outstanding, innovative and thought-provoking work by artists whose exhibitions or books have made a significant contribution to photography over the past year.  

The 2025 shortlisted projects feature documentary photography, constructed images, self-portraiture, performance and family archives. Themes of migration, community and belonging, intergenerational traditions and rituals, family memories and histories are brought together in this powerful shortlist.

Cristina De Middel (b. 1975, Spain) questions the documentary value of photography and the role it plays in creating stereotypes. Her conceptual approach often examines the delicate and loaded relationship there can be between photography and ‘truth’.

Rahim Fortune (b. 1994, USA) uses photography to ask fundamental questions about American identity. Focusing on the narratives of individual families and communities, he explores shifting geographies of migration and resettlement and the way that these histories are written on the landscapes of Texas and the American South.

Tarrah Krajnak (b.1979, Peru) uses the camera as a research tool to bend time and blurs the lines between staged self-portraiture and performance, self and other, fact and fiction.

Lindokuhle Sobekwa (b, 1995, South Africa) explores fragmentation, poverty and the long-reaching ramifications of apartheid and colonialism across all levels of South African society through his work.

The annual exhibition of work by the four shortlisted artists will be on show at The Photographers’ Gallery from 7 March to 15 June 2025.
 
The winner of the £30,000 Prize will be announced at an award ceremony at The Photographers’ Gallery on 15 May 2025, with the other finalists each receiving £5,000.  

The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize   
 

Founded in 1996 by The Photographers’ Gallery, and now in its 29th year, the Prize has become one of the most prestigious international arts awards and has launched and established the careers of many photographers over the years. Previously known as the Citigroup Photography Prize, the Gallery has been in collaboration with Deutsche Börse Group since 2005. In 2016 the Prize was retitled the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, following the establishment of the Foundation as a non-profit organisation, dedicated to collecting, exhibiting and promoting contemporary photography.