Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2023 Shortlist
03rd March 2023
As one of the most prestigious prizes in the world of photography, The Deutsche Börse Foundation Prize highlights significant trends in contemporary photography by showcasing artists that are shaping today’s international photography scene.
Historical figures, myths, and the Black experience are some of the themes explored in this year’s selection for the Deutsche Börse photography prize. The four international artists shortlisted for the prize are Bieke Depoorter, Samuel Fosso, Arthur Jafa and Frida Orupabo. Opening 3 March at The Photographers’ Gallery in London, the exhibition will run until 11 June 2023.
Bieke Depoorter explores the complex ethical relationship and boundaries between photographer and subject. Creating portraits of her own subjects, Michael and Agata, Depoorter scrutinises the exchange between sitter and artist and the delicate power balance at stake.
Similarly, Samuel Fosso has dedicated his artistic practice to portraiture. Working since the mid-70s, Fosso draws upon the West African tradition of studio portraiture, creating inventive and startling self-portraits that present new and alternative identities for the photographer, based on social archetypes as well as real historical figures.
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.
Working with photo-collage, Frida Orupabo also questions prescribed identities. The photographer’s sculptural photo-collages, reimagine the historical Black female body, using material found online.
Find out more on the The Photographers Gallery website here.
