The Deutsche Börse photography prize has, in recent years, been the recipient of much criticism (and some controversy.) Rewarding artists that “push the medium’s boundaries,” the prize’s contentious remit has provoked many onlookers to question whether it even constitutes as a “photography” prize in the first place. Back in 2010, critic Sean O’Hagan set the tone by asking where “straight…
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Originally appeared on the Open Eye Gallery’s blog, 04/09/2015 There’s a quote by Booker T. Washington that trails Richard Ross’s work closely. It’s the epigraph to his Juvenile in Justicebook and states fiercely, “The study of art that does not result in making the strong less willing to oppress the weak means little.” Winner of…
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Originally written for Open Eye Gallery, 08.05.2015 In 1884, The New York Times published a feature called The Camera Epidemic. New, portable cameras were bringing photographers out of their studios and into the city, and the journalist despaired at the “disease” trailing closely behind. Catching unsuspecting city-dwellers within its snare, the camera was an encroaching…
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Originally appeared on the Open Eye Gallery blog, 01.07.2014 With the announcement of this year’s Environmental Photographer of the Year (EPOTY) finalists comes a collection of images that force entrants and audiences alike to consider the challenges of a growing population, climate change and limited resources. Yet although powerful and urgent, for many Western viewers these scenes…
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Originally appeared on Open Eye Gallery, 04/05/2014 The tantalisingly broad criteria of the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize never fails to kindle an eclectic catalogue of artistic endeavours. This year brings together adolescent memories of reckless hedonism, war torn landscapes and an unobtrusive hummingbird in mid-flight. The works of the four shortlisted artists, on exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery, have…
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Originally appeared on Open Eye Gallery blog 16.03.2014 Wander through Open Eye Gallery’s latest exhibition Letizia Battaglia: Breaking The Code of Silence‘ and you will likely grimace at the cold-blooded murder, grieve at the devastating loss of life and shudder at Sicily’s violent, corrupt past. It is only once you transverse this emotional horizon that you…
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