The shortlist of the Prix Pictet, the world’s leading prize in photography and sustainability, has bee n announced. For the first time, there will be a major exhibition of the shortlisted photography, in the UK at the Saatchi Gallery starting 10 October 2012.
The names of the twelve photographers, whose outstanding portfolios on the theme of Power were announced at the opening week of the global photography festival, Les Rencontres d’Arles. The twelve artists shortlisted for the fourth cycle of the Prix Pictet, the world’s leading prize in photography and sustainability, will now prepare their work for the finalists’ exhibition The Shortlist is drawn from ten countries on four continents: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, France, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.
THE LIST
Robert Adams (United States, 1937)
Nominated for series: Turning Back, 1999 Daniel Beltrá (Spain, 1964)
Nominated for series: Spill, 2010
Mohamed Bourouissa (Algeria/France, 1978)
Nominated for series: Périphérique, 2006 Philippe Chancel (France, 1959)
Nominated for series: Fukushima: The Irresistible Power of Nature, 2011 Edmund Clark (UK, 1963)
Nominated for series: Guantanamo: If the Light Goes Out, 2009 Carl De Keyzer (Belgium, 1958)
Nominated for series: Moments Before the Flood, 2009-2011 Luc Delahaye (France, 1962)
Nominated for various works: 2008-2011
Rena Effendi (Azerbaijan, 1977)
Nominated for series: Still Life in the Zone, 2010
Jacqueline Hassink (Netherlands, 1966) Nominated for series: Arab Domains, 2005-2006
An-My Lê (United States/Vietnam, 1961) Nominated for series: 29 Palms, 2003-2004
Joel Sternfeld (United States, 1944) Nominated for series: When It Changed, 2007
Guy Tillim (South Africa, 1962)
Nominated for series: Congo Democratic, 1997-2006
The winner of the fourth Prix Pictet will be announced by Kofi Annan, Honorary President of the Prix Pictet, on Tuesday 9 October, at the opening of the finalists’ exhibition of the shortlisted works at the Saatchi Gallery in London. The exhibition runs from 10 – 28 October 2012.
The mandate of the Prix Pictet is to use the power of photography to raise public awareness worldwide to the social and environmental challenges of the new millennium. Launched in 2008 by the Geneva-based private bank Pictet & Cie, the Prix Pictet has rapidly established itselfas one of the world’s leading photography prizes.
The Prix Pictet has two elements: a prize of CHF 100,000 awarded to the photographer who, in the opinion of the independent jury, has produced a series of work that addresses most powerfully the theme of the award; and the Commission, awarded by the Partners of Pictet & Cie, in which a nominated photographer is invited to undertake a field trip to a region where the Bank is supporting a sustainability project.
Each year the award is centred on a distinct theme. The fourth theme of the Prix Pictet is Power, a theme with enormous breadth, embracing contradiction and paradox in equal measure that has uncovered images and issues that are both awe-inspiring and disturbing.
Professor Sir David King, Chairman of the Prix Pictet Jury, commenting on the Shortlist, said today:
First, I would like to congratulate all the shortlisted artists. But I would also like to thank all of the nominated artists who submitted their work for this cycle of the Prix Pictet. The quality of the material under review made the judging process an immensely challenging but richly rewarding experience. It is a measure of the volume and variety of first-rate photography offered to our judges that we took a considerable time to arrive at the shortlist. Inevitably there are a great many images and compelling sustainability stories that we have not been able to include on the shortlist. When the overall quality of the submissions is considered, the achievement of the twelve shortlisted artists is all the more remarkable.’
Illustrated: Daniel Beltrá
Oil Spill #1 A plume of smoke rises from a burn of collected oil. A total of 411 controlled burns were used to try rid the Gulf of the most visible surface oil
June 24 2010, Gulf of Mexico
Series name: Spill