An exhibition devoted to the work of Simon Norfolk, winner of the fourth Prix Pictet commission, shot on location in Afghanistan, will go on show at Somerset House in London from 10 – 27 October 2013.
The photographs are the result of a series of fieldtrips to Afghanistan supported by the Swiss-based humanitarian organisation Medair, Prix Pictet’s charity partner for the fourth cycle of the Prize. Medair has been active in Afghanistan since 1996, helping communities to learn survival techniques in the face of natural disasters. They also teach and implement Disaster Risk Reduction strategies, such as flood prevention infrastructure, so that communities have the power to protect themselves from subsequent threats.
Simon Norfolk is a multi award-winning landscape photographer whose work over the past ten years has probed and stretched the meaning of the word ‘battlefield’ in all its forms. He has photographed in some of the world’s worst war zones and refugee crises. He has produced three monographs including Afghanistan: chronotopia (2002), which was published in five languages; For Most of It I Have No Words (1998) about the landscapes of genocide; and Bleed (2005) about the war in Bosnia.
Founded in 2008 by Pictet & Cie, the leading Swiss asset and wealth management group, the Prix Pictet has two elements: the prize of CHF 100,000, and the Commission, in which a nominated photographer is invited to undertake a field trip to a region where the Bank is supporting a sustainability project. The Prix also includes a major exhibition devoted to the work of the shortlisted photographers. Among distinguished photographers who have appeared on previous Prix Pictet Shortlists are Robert Adams, Luc Delahaye, Joel Sternfeld, Edward Burtynsky, Mitch Epstein, Taryn Simon, Andreas Gursky, Nadav Kander, Guy Tillim, Darren Almond, Thomas Struth, and Susan Derges.
Simon Norfolk, The Disaster Season, Afghanistan, 2013 © Simon Norfolk for Prix Pictet Ltd