The four artists shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2012 are Pieter Hugo , Rinko Kawauchi , John Stezaker and Christopher Williams. The winner will be announced at a special ceremony at The Photographers’ Gallery on 3 September 2012. Works by the shortlisted photographers will be shown in an exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery from 13 July until 9 September 2012, followed by presentations at the Deutsche Börse headquarters in Frankfurt from 14 September until 25 October 2012, and at C/O Berlin, Forum for visual dialogues from 3 November until 13 January 2013.
This year’s selection showcases a diversity of subject matter and photographic approaches, ranging from documentary photography and the everyday to the recontextualisation of found images and the conceptual.
The Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2012 is presented by The Photographers’ Gallery, London. The annual award of £30,000 rewards a living photographer, of any nationality, for a specific body of work in an exhibition or publication format, which has significantly contributed to photography in Europe between 1 October 2010 and 30 September 2011.
The Nominees
Exhibition Poster
Pieter Hugo
Pieter Hugo (b.1976, South Africa) is nominated for his publication Permanent Error, published by Prestel (Germany, 2011). Permanent Error centres on a vast dumping ground for technological waste on the outskirts of Ghana’s capital city. Focusing on the young slum-dwellers who are burning discarded industrial rubbish to survive, Hugo’s stark photographs of this bleak landscape expose the consequences of the West’s consumption and disposal of ever-new technology.
Rinko Kawauchi (b.1972, Japan) is nominated for her publication Illuminance, published by Editions Xavier Barral (France, 2011). Hailed for her ability to turn the mundane into the extraordinary and poetic, Kawauchi’s work explores themes of life, death and the everyday. Using a soft palette of colours with masterful composition and editing, her carefully sequenced images evoke moments of dreams, memory and temporality. Illuminance spans fifteen years of her practice and results from both personal projects and commissioned work.
John Stezaker
John Stezaker (b.1949, UK) is nominated for his exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (29 January – 18 March 2011). Stezaker’s collages examine our multifaceted relationship to the image. Through his juxtapositions of found photographs, illustrations and stills taken from books, magazines, vintage postcards and classic movies, Stezaker adopts the content and contexts of the original images to create new and poignant meanings.
Christopher Williams (b. 1956, USA) is nominated for his exhibition Kapitalistischer Realismus at Dum umení Ceské Budejovice, Budweis, Czech Republic (5 May - 12 June 2011). As much conceptual artist as photographer, Williams has been creating images of camera and technical apparatus, models, vehicles and products for the last forty years. Alluding to, and borrowing from, the world of advertising he continuously questions our understanding of reality as reflected and communicated to us through photography.
The Jury
The members of the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2012 jury are: François Hébel, Director, Les Rencontres d'Arles; Martin Parr, artist; Beatrix Ruf, Director/Curator, Kunsthalle Zürich and Anne-Marie Beckmann, Curator, Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Germany. Brett Rogers, Director of The Photographers’ Gallery, is the non-voting Chair.
John Stezaker
John Stezaker (b.1949, UK) was awarded the 2012 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize at a special ceremony in The Photographers’ Gallery this evening, Monday 3 September 2012. The £30,000 award was presented by artist and 2003 winner of the Prize, Juergen Teller. The Prize is awarded to a photographer of any nationality for their significant contribution to the medium of photography either through an exhibition or publication, in Europe between 1 October 2010 and 30 September 2011. John Stezaker won for his exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (29 January – 18 March 2011). Stezaker’s collages examine our multifaceted relationship to the image. Through his juxtapositions of found photographs, illustrations and stills taken from books, magazines, vintage postcards and classic movies, Stezaker adopts the content and contexts of the original images to create new and poignant meanings.
John Stezaker said: I would like to thank The Photographers’ Gallery for their support throughout the nomination period and the Whitechapel Gallery for hosting the nominated exhibition. Winning the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize today is a great honour, and being part of the exhibition has been a wonderful opportunity to showcase my work alongside other artists whose work I respect. Brett Rogers, non-voting Chair of the Jury and Director of The Photographers’ Gallery said, on behalf of the jury: The Jury recognized John Stezaker’s outstanding achievement spanning a period of more than thirty years, exploring the subversive force of the found image. Compelling and disruptive, Stezaker’s work has been influential on a new generation of image-makers who have been inspired by his unswerving commitment to his practice. Within the vastness of today’s image flow, Stezaker has managed to resurrect the power and uncanny mystery inherent in the still image using traditional photographic strategies, most especially collage.
