Annual International Photography Prize on display from February
Dates: 20 February – 12 April 2009
Press View: 19 February 2009
Award Announcement: Wednesday 25 March 2009
Location: 16 – 18 Ramillies Street, W1
Paul Graham, Emily Jacir, Tod Papageorge and Taryn Simon are the four shortlisted artists for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2009. The selection this year reflects the diversity of contemporary photographic practice and highlights issues of critical importance in our lives. The annual prize of £30,000 rewards a living photographer, of any nationality, who has made the most significant contribution to the medium of photography, through either an exhibition or publication, in Europe between 1 October 2007 and 30 September 2008. The winner will be announced at a special ceremony on 25 March 2009 at The Photographers’ Gallery, London.
The shortlisted artists for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2009 are:
Paul Graham (b. 1956, UK) has been nominated for his publication a shimmer of possibility (steidlMACK, October 2007). a shimmer of possibility comprises twelve individual volumes of photographic short stories of life in contemporary America. Graham infuses lyricism into the most mundane of everyday human activities – fetching mail or lighting a cigarette – and creates quiet photographic moments, ‘filmic haikus’, which suggest and hint at a narrative but ultimately remain open-ended. At once poetic and political, his photographs manage to draw out something truly profound from the almost-nothingness of everyday life.
Emily Jacir (b. 1970, Kuwait) has been nominated for her installation Material for a film, shown at the Venice Biennale 2007 (7 June – 21 November 2007). Material for a film documents the assassination of the Palestinian intellectual Wael Zuwaiter by Israeli agents in Rome in 1972 for what they believed was his role in the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Summer Olympics of that year. Using photographs, objects, texts and interviews, Jacir combines the role of archivist, activist, and poet to create a poignant work of art that is at once intensely personal and deeply political and bears witness to a culture torn apart by war and displacement.
Tod Papageorge (b. 1940, USA) has been nominated for the exhibition Passing Through Eden – Photographs of Central Park, exhibited at Michael Hoppen Gallery, London (7 March – 12 April 2008). Taken between 1969 and 1991, Papageorge’s black & white photographs of Manhattan’s Central Park are less a document of a place than an urban version of the Garden of Eden. Immersing himself in the free-flowing life of the park, Papageorge has created a body of work that joins the grace of ‘street photography’ to the beauty of exact photographic description, a union that grants his photographs an expressive breadth ranging from surreal comedy to intimations of despair.
Taryn Simon (b. 1975, USA) has been nominated for her solo exhibition An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar at The Photographers’ Gallery, London (13 September – 11 November 2007). Assuming the dual role of shrewd informant and collector of curiosities, Simon compiles a photographic inventory of what lies hidden and inaccessible within the borders of the United States. At once chilling and beautiful, her photographs and texts document diverse subjects from the realms of science, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security, and religion.
The jury this year are –
David Campany (writer/lecturer, University of Westminster, UK); David Goldblatt (photographer, South Africa); Chus Martínez (Chief Curator, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain); and Anne-Marie Beckmann (Curator, Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Germany). The Director of The Photographers’ Gallery, Brett Rogers, is the non-voting Chair.
Brett Rogers, Chair and Director of The Photographers’ Gallery, said:
‘The finalists this year redefine the medium of photography and its possibilities as both a conceptual and creative tool. Each, in their distinct way, attempts to represent the unrepresentable: Taryn Simon in her compelling dissection of the invisible forces that rule our lives; Emily Jacir in her installation which proposes new narratives for approaching recent Palestinian history; Paul Graham whose new series of books encapsulates the poetry of the everyday, and Tod Papageorge who transforms the subject of Central Park, New York, into a Shakespearian paean to urban leisure.’
Alexandra Hachmeister, Corporate Responsibility for Deutsche Börse, commented:
‘This shortlist is impressive, with four very strong positions in contemporary photography. The variety can be seen in the different approaches to the medium, not only in their content, but also in their visual concept. We are looking forward to exhibiting the work of the four shortlisted artists at C/O Berlin and in our headquarters in Frankfurt in 2009.’
The Deutsche Börse Photography Prize continues as one of the most prominent exhibitions at The Photographers’ Gallery and is amongst the most prestigious of the international arts awards. This year will mark the first year the Prize takes place at The Photographers’ Gallery’s new location of 16 – 18 Ramillies St, W1.
Deutsche Börse Group is one of the leading exchange organisations and a major sponsor of photographic art. The Group owns an extensive art collection of contemporary photography which, to date, includes more than 700 works by over sixty international artists. Further information on Deutsche Börse Group and its art collection can be found at www.deutsche-boerse.com/art.
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