The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (DGPh) have jointly awarded their two prizes for research and journalism in the field of photography. The awards recognise contributions that enrich and promote the academic dialogue on the medium of photography.

Research award “Thinking Photography”

Dr. Charlotte Bruns, substitute professor at the Institute for Media Research, Chemnitz University of Technology, receives the DGPh research award “Thinking Photography” for her dissertation “Spatial images and their ways of use. On the organisation of seeing in stereophotography”. In it, Bruns traces an extensive history of seeing as a sensory experience using stereographic photography from 1900 to present. “Thinking Photography” is endowed with €3,000 and honours publications from the field of photographic theory and history that expand the topic area with important approaches from the humanities, cultural studies and social sciences.

The jury justifies its selection as follows: “With this large-scale study, Charlotte Bruns presents a stylistically and scientifically outstanding work. She dedicates herself to a historical topic like stereophotography and abstracts the associated visual and spatial experiences up to the use of virtual reality glasses. This way, she is forming a bridge to the present. She always remains consistent, explores new sources, opens up new perspectives and therefore makes an important contribution to research.”

Award for innovative journalism “Writing Photography”

The “Writing Photography” award goes to Jackson Davidow, Curatorial Fellow in Photography at the Harvard Art Museum, Boston, USA, for his essay “Against Our Vanishing. Cruising the queer archives of a disappeared Boston”. This award recognises an essay that uses photographic traces to explore the queer community in Boston and its (in)visibility. “Writing Photography” is an award for innovative journalism that honours written formats such as essays, blog posts or columns that combine text and photographic material in a creative way. The prize is endowed with €1,000.

In its statement, the jury writes: “It is undeniable that photographs are always a testimony to their time. But to what extent are pictures from past times not only documentation, but also a vehicle against forgetting? Davidow addresses this question in a vivid and highly sensitive way when he tracks down Nan Goldin’s early motifs in Boston, for example. Linguistically accentuated, this particular essay focuses on the queer community and its photographic representation, providing a wonderfully moving approach to dealing with the medium.”

The jury gives two honourable mentions: One goes to Enis Demirer for his master thesis “Cruising Maryam Sahinyan’s photographic archive: Intertwining meanings of the archive between the personal and the public” (Thinking Photography). The other one goes to Maria Garth for her essay “Soviet Avant-Gardes and Socialist Realism. Women Photographers Bridging the Divide, 1930s–1960s” (Writing Photography).

The jury

The winners of the two prizes are selected every two years by an international jury. This year's jury members are: Dr. Carolin Görgen, Associate Professor, Sorbonne Université, Paris; Alexandra König, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation; Renée Mussai, Curator and Researcher, Autograph, London and Miriam Zlobinski, Member of the Board of the History and Archives Section, DGPh.

The award ceremony will take place at a public event in the coming months, more information will follow.

More information on the awards and the award-winning works as well as a selection of press photos can be found here. We will be happy to send you images in printable quality on request.

Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation

The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Frankfurt/Main that is dedicated to collecting, exhibiting and promoting contemporary photography. It is responsible for the further development and presentation of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse, which now comprises over 2,300 photographic works by around 160 artists from 33 nations. In its exhibition space in Eschborn near Frankfurt/Main, it shows several exhibitions a year that are open to the public. Supporting young artists is a particular concern of the foundation. It promotes them in many ways: with awards, scholarships or through participation in the talent programme of the Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam Foam. Together with the Photographers’ Gallery in London, it awards the renowned Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize every year. Furthermore, the foundation supports exhibition projects of international museums and institutions as well as the development of platforms for academic dialogue and research on the medium of photography.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (DGPh)

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (DGPh) e.V. (German Photography Society, DGPh) is a registered association with around 1,100 members throughout Germany and based in Cologne. The DGPh promotes the interests of photography and related visual media in cultural contexts. Its activities focus on the diverse fields of application of photography in art, science, education, journalism, business and politics as well as on their interfaces and interactions. As the central body for communicating ground-breaking photographic achievements to the public, it awards prizes and scholarships, among others.