The shortlist of twelve photographers selected for the eighth cycle of the Prix Pictet, the global award in photography and sustainability, was announced on Thursday 4 July 2019, at a presentation at the opening of Les Rencontres d’Arles International Photography Festival.
The shortlisted photographers are:
- Shahidul Alam, born 1955 Bangladesh, based in Dhaka
- Joana Choumali, born 1974 Côte d’Ivoire, based in Abidjan
- Margaret Courtney-Clarke, born 1949 Namibia, based in Swakopmund
- Rena Effendi, born 1977 Baku, based in Istanbul
- Lucas Foglia, born 1983 USA, based in San Francisco Janelle Lynch, born 1969 USA, based in New York
- Ross McDonnell, born 1979 Ireland, based in New York
- Gideon Mendel, born 1959 South Africa, based in London
- Ivor Prickett, born 1983 Ireland, based in Europe and the Middle East
- Robin Rhode, born 1976 South Africa, based in Berlin
- Awoiska van der Molen, born 1972 Netherlands, based in Amsterdam
- Alexia Webster, born 1979 South Africa, based in New York
In the words of Kofi Annan, (1938-2018) Honorary Founding President of Prix Pictet: “Perhaps in our ability to carry on in adversity lies hope for us all. Hope that, despite the catastrophic damage that we have visited upon the natural world and upon the lives our most vulnerable citizens, it is not too late to reverse the damage that we have done.”
The winner of the Prix Pictet will be announced on Wednesday 13 November 2019, on the occasion of the opening of an exhibition of works by the twelve shortlisted photographers at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Now in its eighth cycle, the Prix Pictet was founded by the Pictet Group in 2008. Today the Prix Pictet is recognised as the world’s leading prize for photography. On an 18-month cycle the award focuses on a theme that promotes discussion and debate on issues of sustainability. The prize of 100,000 Swiss francs is awarded for a body of work that speaks most powerfully to the theme of the award, which in this cycle is Hope.
Each cycle of the Prix Pictet tours the world, with exhibitions in over a dozen countries annually, bringing the work of the shortlisted photographers before a wide international audience. The Hope tour will begin in Tokyo on 12 December 2019.
The Prix Pictet is published in book form, with extensive documentation of the work of each of the shortlisted photographers together with images from the wider group of nominees and essays by leading writers on the theme of the prize.
The Jury for the eight cycle of the Prix Pictet is: Sir David King, Affiliate Partner, SYSTEMIQ Limited and Senior Strategy Advisor to the President of Rwanda (Chair of the Jury); Martin Barnes, Senior Curator, Photographs, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Richard Mosse, photographer, recipient of the 7th Prix Pictet, Philippe Bertherat, Former Managing Partner, Pictet Group; Jan Dalley, Arts Editor, Financial Times; Herminia Ibarra, Charles Handy Professor of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School; Jeff Rosenheim, Joyce Frank Manschel Curator in Charge of Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Photographs, Kazuyo Sejima, Co-Founder, SANAA, Pritzker Prize-winning architects.
Sir David King, Chair of the Prix Pictet jury, said today: “In selecting the shortlist for this year’s Prix Pictet, we were mindful of the debt of gratitude we owe to the inspirational role of Kofi Annan, as our Founding President. Hope, the theme of this year’s Prix Pictet, addresses his personal concerns directly. We believe more than ever, in a world saturated with images, that the profound insights of great photographers can help to bring home to us all the urgency of the environmental issues we are now facing.”
