The Photographers’ Gallery – Dieutsche Börse Photography Prize 2010 (February 12 – April 18 2010)
4 out of 5
In its 15th year, the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize is intended to recognize a living photographer of any nationality who has made the strongest contribution to photography in Europe during the preceeding year. The The four final nominees are on display at the Photographers’ Gallery, which tends to host excellent shows. This year is no exception.
Having settled nicely into its new location off Oxford Street, the Photographers’ Gallery presents the work of the four nominees over two separate floors giving Sophie Ristelhueber the unfair advantage or disadvantage of introducing the viewer to this year’s nominees with her ground floor space. Ristelhueber’s large scale photos are good, but they lack cohesion and are ultimately superseded by the competition.
On the second floor, the other three nominees battle for the prize, with the mood starting from humorous to nostalgic and lastly to sombre. Anna Fox’s work, humorous and provocative, starts the second floor tour. Visually interesting, her work includes portraits as well as photos of household objects accompanied by humorous poetry. Zoe Leonard’s work provides an entirely different atmosphere. Focusing on the overlooked items in modern life – shoes, abandoned stores, old posters, her photographs are excellent. Smaller in scale than they could be, they are completely devoid of human life. The last nominee, Donovan Wylie tugs at the heartstrings with his photographs of the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. The emotional heavyweight photographs show torn and bent metal fences in a landscape of desperate desolation. Wylie’s work is especially interesting in that it transforms symbols of pain and conflict into aesthetically beautiful and architectural photographs.
Overall, an excellent exhibition by four talented photographers. The judges have their work cut out for them.
In its 15th year, the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize is intended to recognize a living photographer of any nationality who has made the strongest contribution to photography in Europe during the preceeding year. The The four final nominees are on display at the Photographers’ Gallery, which tends to host excellent shows. This year is no exception.
Having settled nicely into its new location off Oxford Street, the Photographers’ Gallery presents the work of the four nominees over two separate floors giving Sophie Ristelhueber the unfair advantage or disadvantage of introducing the viewer to this year’s nominees with her ground floor space. Ristelhueber’s large scale photos are good, but they lack cohesion and are ultimately superseded by the competition.
On the second floor, the other three nominees battle for the prize, with the mood starting from humorous to nostalgic and lastly to sombre. Anna Fox’s work, humorous and provocative, starts the second floor tour. Visually interesting, her work includes portraits as well as photos of household objects accompanied by humorous poetry. Zoe Leonard’s work provides an entirely different atmosphere. Focusing on the overlooked items in modern life – shoes, abandoned stores, old posters, her photographs are excellent. Smaller in scale than they could be, they are completely devoid of human life. The last nominee, Donovan Wylie tugs at the heartstrings with his photographs of the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. The emotional heavyweight photographs show torn and bent metal fences in a landscape of desperate desolation. Wylie’s work is especially interesting in that it transforms symbols of pain and conflict into aesthetically beautiful and architectural photographs.
Overall, an excellent exhibition by four talented photographers. The judges have their work cut out for them.
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