Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2023

Interesting exhibition at the Photographers Gallery showcasing the four shortlisted finalists in this years Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.

I always find this show slightly baffling as they seem to take quite a broad definition of photography. I should take it as artists who use photography in contemporary art rather than people who take photographs.

Most baffling was Arthur Jafa who the commentary said was looking at how visual media could transmit “the equivalent power, beauty and alienation” embedded in black music. Not sure what that means and feel that music has developed over time where as this is trying to do the same in one moment.

I found Bieke Depoorte’s Installation very moving. It documented a chance meeting with a man in Portland, Oregan, who gave her a suitcase of his belongings and disappeared. The installation was a video recording how she tried to find him and find out more about him with the content of the suitcase around the walls.

Frida Orupado presented figures of black women in collages from digitised colonial archives, social media and bought online material. She overlays these images to create cut out figures which reminded we of dolls I made as a child with their joints articulated with butterfly clips which I' not thought about for years. I loved the reuse of old faces.

My favourite was Samuel Fosso from Cameroon. He set up a studio in 1975 aged 13. As well as taking commercial portraits he has used images of himself to look at performance and transformation. The images shown were from various sets from throughout his career starting in the 1970s, a set on leading black figures and another on West African soldiers in the First World War. As he is the same age as me I was as fascinated in seeing him age over the years via the people he was portraying.

The winner of this years awards will be announced on 11 May and I look forward to seeing who wins.

Closes 11 June 2023


Review

Guardian


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