PHOTO:Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize
The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2016 is an annual award established by The Photographers’ Gallery, London in 1996 and in partnership with Deutsche Börse Group since 2005. The prize rewards a living photographer, of any nationality, for a specific body of work in an exhibition or publication format, which is felt to have significantly contributed to photography and was presented in Europe.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: The Photographers’ Gallery Archive
The four artists shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2016 are: Laura El-Tantawy, selected for her self-published photobook In the “Shadow of the Pyramids” (2015). Covering from 2005 to 2014, this project depicts the atmosphere and rising tensions in Cairo in the events leading to and during the January revolution in Tahrir Square (2011-13). El-Tantawy with this photobook explores parallel narratives of her own family’s history with the search for identity of a troubled nation. She combines old family photographs and her own lyrical witness accounts with close up portraits of protestors and streets scenes that vividly express the violence and euphoria of the crowds. Erik Kessels selected for his exhibition “Unfinished Father”. In this exhibition Kessels reflects upon the fragmented realities of loss, memory and a life come undone as a result of his father’s debilitating stroke. Kessels uses his father’s unfinished restoration project of an old Fiat 500 as a representation of his current condition. He brings pieces of the unassembled body of the car into the exhibition space and presents it alongside photographs of car parts and images that were taken by his father. Trevor Paglen selected for his exhibition “The Octopus”, his project represents complex topics like mass surveillance, data collection, classified satellite and drone activities and the systems of power connected to them. His installation comprises of images of restricted military and government areas, skylines showing the flight tracks of passing drones, sculptural elements and research assembled in collaboration with scientist, amateur astronomers and human rights activists. Through his work Paglen demonstrates that secrets cannot be hidden from view, but that their traces and structures are visible evidence in the landscape. Tobias Zielony selected for “The Citizen”, exhibited as part of the German Pavilion presentation at the 56th Biennale of Venice. Mostly taken in Berlin and Hamburg Zielony’s photographs portray the lives and circumstances of African refugee activists living in Europe. Fleeing violence and oppression in their home countries many arrive to the West in search of freedom and security only to find themselves living as outsiders in refugee-camps without legal representation or work permits. Presented alongside the images are first person accounts, interviews and narratives published by Zielony in African newspapers and magazines and reporting on the immigrants’ experiences and journeys. The winner will be announced at a special award ceremony in 2016 during the exhibition run.
Info: The Photographers’ Gallery, 16–18 Ramillies Street, London, Duration: 15/4-3/7/16, Mon-Wed & Fri-Sat 10:00-18:00, Thu 10:00-20:00, Sun 11:00-18:00, http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk
