The Deutsche Borse Photography Prize

Since 1996 the Photographers’ Gallery has been at the forefront of exhibiting and promoting the work of contemporary photographers with the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize. Ian Reuben went along to see this year’s final four.

Through sponsoring this prestigious prize the Photographers’ Gallery ( now in a swanky new home )  and the Deutsche Borse Group have forged a close collaborative relationship, with the prize  now  firmly established as one of the arts' most prestigious distinctions and the award readily comparable to the Turner Prize.

Curator of the prize, Stefanie Braun says that the event was established to "raise the profile of contemporary photography".
And what makes it unique is that from a hundred entrants only four are chosen who's work, she says has "the greatest impact" and who "make a statement about the world by trying to explore different visual options and subject matter.”

This year, the four shortlisted  are Paul Graham from the UK, Emily Jacir from Kuwait and two American photographers; Tod Papageorge and Taryn Simon.

Having paid close attention to the three minute, looped interview of each of the photographers,  then looked closely at their pictures, as objectively as I could without losing the point of this review, I knew I preferred three and disliked only one.

I will start with Paul Graham, I listened intently - I recorded it - to what he had to say about his work and I was just not convinced. I still cannot identify why satisfactorily.

Graham’s work centres around his travels in the United States, published in a volume called Shimmer of Possibilities. The press release states effusively, "Graham infuses lyricism into the most mundane of everyday human activities - fetching mail or lighting a cigarette.."

Actually, no. He takes photographs of people doing mundane things and unfortunately it is easy to see how content affects experience, mundane being the operative word.
The experience, personally was as mundane as his subject matter and I experienced very little "lyricism” at all, if it is indeed possible to attribute the nebulous quality of "lyricism" to a visual image.

Emily Jacir's work originally entitled, Material for a Film,  is duly imbued with all the brevity befitting the narrative of her pictures. She is tackling a painful subject, Palestine, and the plight of the Palestinians.

She gives the viewer - or participant -  a glimpse into the existence of a 'character' Wael Zuaiter, through whom we can get an un filtered sense of the Palestinian reality.

In this respect it does work, only the narrative of this selection outweighs the visual content for me. With such a poignant subject it is easy to fall into just identifying symbols that are representative of that situation, which I believe is what has happened with Emily's work.

The next photographer Tod Papageorge is nominated for his exhibition Passing through Eden: Photographs of Central Park. This series of untitled works takes a warm and almost intimate look at the various different individuals who have sought solace or a calm moment in Central Park, New York.

It is definitely not just a temporal record of events occurring in the park, each picture is like a portrait. Papageorge has captured the mood of each moment well and the pictures are interesting and serene.

Finally, the last nominee Taryn Simon, in her collection of photographs entitled An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar,  has achieved a worthy first position among the entrants.
Her ten pictures are visually arresting if only due to the immediate wave of curiosity they elicited from me: I wanted to see and know more straightaway. Her choice of subject matter, from exploding warheads and nuclear waste to a cryopreservation unit are captivating.

As the title of the collection suggests it is work that grants the viewer a privileged insight into events occurring regularly but on the periphery of daily life in America. Particularly interesting is one photographic 'composition' of the contraband room at JFK Airport.

Taryn Simon certainly stands out for me as the clear winner. Her work is interesting, aesthetically beautiful in its askew view of the usually invisible.

She encapsulates  what the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize is all about; raising the profile of contemporary photographers and elevating the medium itself to a well deserved status of  fine-art.

It may appear to be a bold statement but with the kind of depth and quality imbued in her work it is more accurately a statement of fact. Interestingly I would have liked to see how Simon would have interpreted the subject matter that was the basis for Emily Jacir's work.

The Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 2009, Photographers’ Gallery, 16-18 Ramilles Street, London, W1F 7LW, Open Tuesday- Sunday, Admission: Free.
The winner of the prize will be announced on 25th March www.photonet.org.uk