Walid Raad/ The Atlas Group has been awarded the "Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2007àon Wednesday in London.The £30,000 prize aims to reward a living photographer of any nationality, who has made the most significant contribution to the medium of photography in Europe in the previous year, either for a significant exhibition or publication.
The prize showcases new talent and highlights the best of international photography practice and is one of the most prestigious in the world of photography.
The Atlas Group, a project by Walid Raad (born 1967, Lebanon), has been awarded the "žDeutsche Börse Photography Prize 2007" for the exhibition The Atlas Group Project. The Atlas Group is a project undertaken by Walid Raad between 1989 and 2004 to research and document the contemporary history of Lebanon. However, the authenticity of the photographic and video documents in this archive is continuously queried, leaving the viewer uncertain how history - in particular one marked by the trauma of civil war - can be told and visually represented.
The international Jury, which is set up each year, determind the winner out of the four finalists under the chair of Brett Rogers, Director of the Photographers' Gallery. The Jurys' members where: Krysztof Candrowicz (Poland), Director of the Lodz Art Center; Shirana Shahbazi (Iran), artist and winner of the Photography Prize 2002; Urs Stahel (Switzerland), Director of the Fotomuseum Winterthur and Anne-Marie Beckmann (Frankfurt), Curator of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse.
Brett Rogers, Director of the Photographers' Gallery, said: " Walid Raad's work opens up new possibilities for reinterpreting photography's role in the construction of 'history' especially in connection with his main project on the Lebanese Civil Wars. He demonstrates a new form of conceptual practice, one that combines the poetic with the political, and yet remains playfully engaging."Â
"The Photography Price has once again succeeded in bringing together the most important and interesting representative of the European photographic scene. Photography plays a key role in in our company culture. The "Deutsche Börse Photography Prize" is a very important part of our commitment to the medium"Â, said Anne-Marie Beckmann, responsible for the Arts Sponsorship Programm of Deutsche Börse.
Deutsche Börse has sponsored this prestigious prize since 2005. The prize was originally set up in 1996 by The Photographers' Gallery in London to promote the best of contemporary photography. The focus is on the promotion of young talents and the acknoledgement of outstanding works of international Photographic Art. Previous winners of the "Deutsche Börse Photography Prize" are Robert Adams (2006) and Luc Delahaye (2005).
An exhibition of the winners work as well as the three finalists Philippe Chancel, Anders Petersen and Fiona Tan is shown at the Photographers' Gallery until 9 April 2007. The exhibition will then be presented in Berlin's Altes Postfuhramt (Old Post Office) by C/O Gallery in Berlin from 9 May until 11 July and from 30 August until 22 October at Deutsche Börse Group's headquarters in Frankfurt. -- www.deutsche-boerse.com
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