Vattenfall Photo Prize for Berlin 2011

Nov 24, 2011 – Jan 15, 2012


The topic of this year’s call for submissions was cooperation. What conditions are required for cooperation, and what benefits do these associations produce? What different forms of cooperation exist? Participating photographers were invited to offer their own interpretation of this theme in a series of eight to ten photographs or to present a metaphorical rendering. The four winners have translated this challenge into multifaceted, visually striking works—showing, for example, eternal loyalty among fraternity members, inner affinities to the GDR among former guest workers from Mozambique, surprising connections among seemingly unrelated newspaper images, and the fate of "child witches" in Nigeria.

With a total of 27,000 euros in prize money, the Vattenfall Photo Prize is one of the mostgenerous awards for emerging photographers in Germany: the first prize is 10,000 euros, the second prize is 8,000euros, and the third prize is 6,000 euros. There is also a 3,000 euro special prize for the best individual photograph.

Two-hundred artists entered what is today the most generously funded competition for young photographers in Germany. A jury of diverse professionals was assembled, including Ingo Taubhorn, Deichtorhallen Hamburg; Stephan Erfurt, C/O Berlin; Robert Lebeck, photographer; Rainer Knauber, Vattenfall Europe AG; and Hanna Marie Ebert, curator of the Vattenfall Collection. The group studied the entries and selected the strongest among them.

Winners
1. Prize Lene Münch
2. Prize Malte Wandel
3. Prize Michael Disqué
Best Single Photo Toby Binder