Untitled, from the series of Illuminance 2009 © Rinko Kawauchi
Muse (Film Portrait Collage) XIII 2012. © John Stezaker. Courtesy The Approach Gallery, London, and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne
Fachhochschule Aachen, Fachbereich Gestaltung, Studiengang: Visuelle Kommunikation, Fotolabor für Studenten, Boxgraben 100, Aachen, November 8th, 2010. 2010 © Christopher Williams Enlarge Image
INFO
The four artists shortlisted the Photography Prize 2012 are Pieter Hugo, Rinko Kawauchi, John Stezaker and Christopher Williams.
This selection showcases diverse approaches to photography, from portraits taken in the toxic waste dumps of Ghana, to exquisite images of everyday moments and the conceptual use of found imagery.
PIETER HUGO (B.1976, SOUTH AFRICA)
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 Accra, and the young slum-dwellers whose survival depends on processing and burning this discarded material.
Hugo’s photographs of this bleak landscape question the ethics of our rapid consumption of ever-new technology and its hidden consequences.
RINKO KAWAUCHI (B.1972, JAPAN)
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.
Illuminance, the result of both commissions and personal projects, spans fifteen years of her practice. Using a soft palette of colours and masterful composition and editing skills, her images evoke moments of dreams, memory and temporality.
JOHN STEZAKER (B.1949, UK)
Nominated for his exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (29 January – 18 March 2011).
Stezaker’s collages examine our multi-faceted 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 convey new and often poignant meanings.
CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS (B.1956, USA)
Nominated for his exhibition Kapitalistischer Realismus at Dům umění České Budějovice, Budweis, Czech Republic (5 May – 12 June 2011).
Williams has been creating images of cameras, models, vehicles and other technical apparatus for the last forty years. Alluding to and borrowing from the world of advertising, his conceptual approach continuously questions our understanding of reality as reflected and communicated to us through photographs.
THE PRIZE
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 the medium of photography in Europe between 1 October 2010 and 30 September 2011.
THE JURY FOR 2012
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.
Muse (Film Portrait Collage) XIII 2012. © John Stezaker. Courtesy The Approach Gallery, London, and Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne
Fachhochschule Aachen, Fachbereich Gestaltung, Studiengang: Visuelle Kommunikation, Fotolabor für Studenten, Boxgraben 100, Aachen, November 8th, 2010. 2010 © Christopher Williams Enlarge Image
INFO
The four artists shortlisted the Photography Prize 2012 are Pieter Hugo, Rinko Kawauchi, John Stezaker and Christopher Williams.
This selection showcases diverse approaches to photography, from portraits taken in the toxic waste dumps of Ghana, to exquisite images of everyday moments and the conceptual use of found imagery.
PIETER HUGO (B.1976, SOUTH AFRICA)
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 Accra, and the young slum-dwellers whose survival depends on processing and burning this discarded material.
Hugo’s photographs of this bleak landscape question the ethics of our rapid consumption of ever-new technology and its hidden consequences.
RINKO KAWAUCHI (B.1972, JAPAN)
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.
Illuminance, the result of both commissions and personal projects, spans fifteen years of her practice. Using a soft palette of colours and masterful composition and editing skills, her images evoke moments of dreams, memory and temporality.
JOHN STEZAKER (B.1949, UK)
Nominated for his exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (29 January – 18 March 2011).
Stezaker’s collages examine our multi-faceted 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 convey new and often poignant meanings.
CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS (B.1956, USA)
Nominated for his exhibition Kapitalistischer Realismus at Dům umění České Budějovice, Budweis, Czech Republic (5 May – 12 June 2011).
Williams has been creating images of cameras, models, vehicles and other technical apparatus for the last forty years. Alluding to and borrowing from the world of advertising, his conceptual approach continuously questions our understanding of reality as reflected and communicated to us through photographs.
THE PRIZE
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 the medium of photography in Europe between 1 October 2010 and 30 September 2011.
THE JURY FOR 2012
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.
