Four artists shortlisted for the 2026 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize

Published on
02/11/2025 – 9:14 GMT+1

Four artists exploring fact, reminiscence, identification and social justice have been shortlisted for the 2026 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.

Announced by The Photographers’ Gallery in London, the nominees are Jane Evelyn Atwood, Weronika Gęsicka, Amak Mahmoodian and Rene Matić.

Now in its thirtieth 12 months, the £30,000 (€34,000) prize recognises a photographer or artist who has made a “significant contribution to photography” by a current exhibition or publication.

“This year’s shortlist is a powerful testament to photography’s enduring ability to explore our shared social and societal circumstances,” stated Anne-Marie Beckmann, the director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation.

“It celebrates photography’s versatility and capacity to not only document the world but to challenge our perceptions of it, giving significance to issues and communities that are often overlooked.”

An exhibition will open at The Photographers’ Gallery, London, from 6 March to 7 June 2026, showcasing the shortlisted works, earlier than travelling to the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation in Eschborn/Frankfurt from 3 September 2026 to 17 January 2027.

The general winner shall be introduced on 14 May 2026. Below are a choice of photos from the 4 shortlisted artists.

Amak Mahmoodian – One Hundred and Twenty Minutes

Drawing on images, poetry and movie, Mahmoodian’s One Hundred and Twenty Minutes transforms desires into shared narratives of exile and belonging. Working with collaborators from 14 nations and drawing from her personal private experiences, she explores how displacement shapes reminiscence and creativeness.

The title refers back to the period of time people dream every night time – a poetic metaphor for the delicate border between the true and the imagined.

Jane Evelyn Atwood – Too Much Time / Trop de Peines

Atwood’s deeply humanist venture returns to her decade-long documentation of ladies in prisons throughout 9 nations throughout the Nineteen Nineties.

Her black-and-white photos seize the stark inequalities confronted by feminine inmates – from lack of entry to hygiene to restricted healthcare – revealing each systemic neglect and moments of quiet resilience.

Weronika Gęsicka – Encyclopaedia

Gęsicka’s Encyclopaedia delves into the world of “trap entries” – faux phrases or information deliberately added to reference books.

By visually reinterpreting these by AI-generated imagery and manipulated inventory pictures, she explores the instability of fact within the digital age. Her playful but unsettling venture asks: how will we navigate a world the place reality and fiction more and more blur?

Rene Matić – AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH

Through images, set up and sound, Matić’s work captures the feel of up to date British life – exploring themes of identification, class, household and subculture.

Their follow, which they describe as current inside “rude(ness),” honours the in-between areas of identification and belonging.

The general winner shall be introduced on 14 May 2026.