The shortlisted artists all push the boundaries of photography and exemplify its resonance and relevance as a cultural force today.
The four international artists shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2023 were revealed as Bieke Depoorter, Samuel Fosso, Arthur Jafa and Frida Orupabo. Initially established in 1996 and organised in partnership with the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation in Frankfurt/Main since 2016, this long-standing and influential annual Prize identifies and rewards artists and their projects considered to have made the most significant contribution to photography over the previous 12 months.
Over its 27-year history, the Prize has become renowned as one of the most important international awards for photographers, as well as a barometer of photographic development, foregrounding outstanding, innovative and thought-provoking work. This year’s shortlisted artists all push the boundaries of photography and exemplify its resonance and relevance as a cultural force today.
The 2023 exhibition features work by the four international shortlisted artists: Bieke Depoorter, Samuel Fosso, Arthur Jafa and Frida Orupabo, at The Photographers’ Gallery, London, from 3 March until 11 June 2023. The winner of the £30,000 prize will be announced at a special evening award ceremony on 11 May 2023, with the other finalists each receiving £5,000.
The complex ethical relationship and boundaries which have rarely been explored between the photographer and their subject provide the focus for Bieke Depoorter’s intense scrutiny of her relationship with her subjects. Drawing upon the West African tradition of studio portraiture, Samuel Fosso repurposes this genre through self-portraiture by creating startling new identities, based on social archetypes as well as real historical figures. Drawing from a rich collection of images, film footage and music, Arthur Jafa uncompromisingly articulates Black experience, providing us with an exercise in visual literacy, confronting us with a new Black aesthetic which avoids fixed hierarchies and linear storytelling. Giving sculptural form to photo collage, Frida Orupabo reimagines the historical Black female body through her extraordinary multi-layered collages and Instagram posts using material circulated online.
The 2023 shortlisted artists and projects are:
Bieke Depoorter – for her exhibition A Chance Encounter at C/O Berlin (30 April – 7 September 2022). In an exhibition of installations, projections, film and photography, Bieke Depoorter (b. 1986, Kortrijk, Belgium) blurs the traditional relationship between photographer and subject. The exhibition presents two unfolding, ongoing, bodies of work, Agata and Michael. Here, a chance encounter develops into an enduring personal relationship and, thereafter, into an interrogation of the medium.
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Bieke Depoorter, We walked together, Portland, Oregon, USA, May 2015 © Bieke Depoorter/Magnum Photos. Courtesy the artist -
Bieke Depoorter, Michael at home, Portland, Oregon, USA, May 2015 © Bieke Depoorter/Magnum Photos. Courtesy the artist -
Bieke Depoorter, K. Elliott, The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2023, exhibition view. -
Bieke Depoorter, Mount Hood, Parkdale, Oregon, USA, October 2021 © Bieke Depoorter/Magnum Photos. Courtesy the artist -
Bieke Depoorter, K. Elliott, The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2023, exhibition view.
Samuel Fosso – for his exhibition Samuel Fosso at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, (10 November 2021 – 13 March 2022). Since the mid-1970s, Samuel Fosso (b. 1962, Kumba, Cameroon) has dedicated his artistic practice to self-portraits and performative photography. Fosso’s retrospective exhibition traces a career of almost 50 years and comprises more than 300 prints. The exhibition brings together iconic series, lesser-known works, as well as archival material and previously unpublished images, displayed principally in large-scale ensembles.
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Samuel Fosso, Self-Portrait (Tommie Smith) from the series African Spirits, 2008 © Samuel Fosso Courtesy the artist and JM Patras, Paris -
Samuel Fosso, Autoportrait, from the series 70s Lifestyle, 1976 © Samuel Fosso Courtesy of the artist and JM Patras, Paris -
Samuel Fosso, Self-Portrait (Angela Davis) from the series African Spirits, 2008 © Samuel Fosso Courtesy the artist and JM Patras, Paris
Arthur Jafa – for his exhibition Live Evil at Luma, Arles (14 April – 13 November 2022). Arthur Jafa (b. 1960, Tupelo, Mississippi, United States) is an artist and filmmaker. Nominated for the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of his work to date, Jafa draws upon a substantial archive of film and still images, creating visceral, dynamic films and room-sized installations.
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Arthur Jafa, Ex-Slave Gordon 1863, 2017 © Arthur Jafa, Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery Photography by Andrea Rossetti -
Arthur Jafa, Bloods II, 2020, © Arthur Jafa Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery
Frida Orupabo – for her exhibition I have seen a million pictures of my face and still I have no idea, Fotomuseum Winterthur (26 February – 29 May 2022). The sculptural collages and digital works of Frida Orupabo (b. 1986, Sarpsborg, Norway) are multi-layered formations, exploring questions of race, sexuality and identity. Orupabo, a Norwegian Nigerian artist and sociologist, grounds her inquiry in her own experience of cultural belonging.
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Frida Orupabo, Turning, 2021 © Frida Orupabo Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Stockholm, Mexico City -
Frida Orupabo, Seated with two hands, 2021 © Frida Orupabo. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Stockholm, Mexico City -
Frida Orupabo, Batwoman, 2021 © Frida Orupabo Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Stockholm, Mexico City -
Frida Orupabo, A lil help, 2021 © Frida Orupabo Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Stockholm, Mexico City
THE DEUTSCHE BÖRSE PHOTOGRAPHY FOUNDATION PRIZE 2023
exhibition
The Photographers’ Gallery, London
3 MAR – 11 JUN 2023
(Afterwards, the exhibition will tour to the Muzeum Fotografii w Krakowie in Krakow, Poland – 30 June to 17 September 2023)
[based on press information]
