American artist Sally Mann has won the 9th Prix Pictet, the global award in photography and sustainability, it was announced on Wednesday.
The winner receives a cash prize of 100,000 Swiss Francs ($109,000).
The announcement was made at a ceremony at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, marking the opening of a major exhibition at the venue that will display the 12 photographic series shortlisted for the prize.
The exhibition is free and open until January 9, 2022.
Each of the shortlisted bodies of work explores the topical theme of “fire”, the focus of this cycle of the award.
Ms Mann’s winning series Blackwater (2008-2012) is a multifaceted exploration of the devastating fires that enveloped the Great Dismal Swamp in south-eastern Virginia in the US, where the first slave ships docked in America.
In this work, Ms Mann draws a parallel between the all-consuming fires she encountered there with racial conflict in America, explaining: “The fires in the Great Dismal Swamp seemed to epitomise the great fire of racial strife in America — the Civil War, emancipation, the Civil Rights Movement, in which my family was involved, the racial unrest of the late 1960s and most recently the summer of 2020. Something about the deeply flawed American character seems to embrace the apocalyptic as solution.”
-
Located 30 kilometres from Dakar (Senegal), Mbeubeuss is an unauthorised dump site, where each day, 350 rubbish trucks dump about 1,300 tons of household waste, from Dakar and environs. It is an ecological bomb: since its creation in 1968, the dumpsite has been growing and increasingly gaining ground, polluting surrounding waters, soils and the environment. But Mbeubeuss is also a source of income for about 1,800 people who work in and earn their living from the dump site. Photo: Fabrice Monteiro / Prix Pictet -
Wildfire, 2015. From the series In The Wake, 2015–20. Dye-sublimation print. Photo: David Uzochukwu and Galerie Number 8 -
Wonder Beirut, The story of a Pyromaniac Photographer, 1998–2006. From the series Wonder Beirut, 1998–2006. Photographic prints. Photo: Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, In Situ Fabienne Leclerc and The Third Line -
A young girl in West Bengal, India, plays with a kerosene flame inside a poor household in rural Bengal. More than six million Indian people suffer from fire burns every year, making India the burns capital of the world. These figures are related to the close proximity of housing in many areas, as well as the overwhelming use of an open flame for light, cooking and warmth. Despite these huge numbers, there are very few burns facilities for these victims and many are condemned to a painful, constricted life if they survive at all. Photo: Brent Stirton / Prix Pictet -
Khmer Rouge soldiers took control Phnom Penh. ‘Khmer Rouge troops took control and occupied the capital city of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975. The soldiers shot into the air, which could be heard for kilometres around the city, as smoke from burning houses covered the whole city. The soldiers forced my family and all the other residents of the capital to leave to the countryside.’ 2014, from the series Left 3 Days. Inkjet print. Photo: Mak Remissa / Prix Pictet -
Untitled, 2001. From the series Hanabi, 2001. C-type prints. Photo: Rinko Kawauchi / Prix Pictet -
Pendant 1943/2021 (Version II), 2021. From the series Smoke, 2021. Unique silver gelatin photograph. Photo: Lisa Oppenheim and The Approach -
Untitled (Burning I), 2020. From the series Fire, 2020. Digital Chromogenic print. Photo: Christian Marclay, Fraenkel Gallery and White Cube -
Untitled, 2016. From the series Matter / Burn Out, 2016. Inkjet prints. Photo: Daisuke Yokota / Prix Pictet -
Burnt Tree Diptych, Tujunga Wash, 2018. From the series LA Fires, 2017–20. Silver gelatin print. Photo: Mark Ruwudel, Gallery Luisotti and Large Glass -
The Cloister, 2011. From the series Immolation, 2009–19. Transfer prints on Japanese paper and acrylic with stitching, metal leaf. Photo: Carla Rippey / Prix Pictet -
Blackwater 3, 2008 – 2012. From the series Blackwater, 2008–1. Tintype. Photo: Sally Mann and Gagosian
Born in Lexington, Virginia, Ms Mann began studying photography in the late 1960s. She is a Guggenheim fellow, three-time recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and was named “America’s Best Photographer” by Time magazine in 2001.
“If ever there was a time for the Prix Pictet to take up the theme of 'fire', that time is now. This past summer we were inundated with images of fire at its most frighteningly destructive … Of course, fire is a most capricious element, and its various faces were present in the group of shortlisted series,” said Sir David King, chairman of the Prix Pictet jury.
“The jury considered an exceptional group of artists, each of whom demonstrated a highly distinctive approach to the theme, at times challenging our understanding of what photography can be.
“Sally Mann’s series in particular is a brilliant repurposing of historic photographic process to tell a chilling contemporary story. At the end of a rich debate, the jury were unanimous in their decision that she was a worthy winner of the ninth Prix Pictet.”
Photographers who also made the award's shortlist include Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (Lebanon); Rinko Kawauchi (Japan); Christian Marclay (US/ Switzerland); Fabrice Monteiro (Belgium/Benin); Lisa Oppenheim (US); Mak Remissa (Cambodia); Carla Rippey (Mexico); Mark Ruwedel (US); Brent Stirton (South Africa); David Uzochukwu (Austria/Nigeria) and Daisuke Yokota (Japan).
The Prix Pictet was founded by the Pictet Group in 2008. Today, the award is recognised as the world’s leading prize for photography.
On an approximately 18-month cycle, each theme aims to promote discussion and debate on critical issues of sustainability. The prize money is awarded for a body of work that speaks most powerfully to the theme of the award.
Each cycle of the Prix Pictet tours globally, with exhibitions in over a dozen locations, bringing the work of the shortlisted photographers to a wide international audience.
