Deutsch Borse Photography Prize 2008

Kuhmo (1994) by Finland's Esko Männikkö.

Press Release:

Esko Männikkö (b. 1959, Finland) has been awarded the 2008 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. David Furnish presented the £30,000 award during the evening ceremony on Wednesday 5 March 2008. The Prize is on show and presented by The Photographers’ Gallery. It continues until 6 April 2008.

The Prize is awarded to an international photographer for their significant contribution to the medium of photography during the past year. Männikkö was awarded the Prize for his retrospective Cocktails 1990 - 2007 at Millesgården, Stockholm, Sweden (1 September – 4 November 2007).

A portraitist of isolation, Esko Männikkö documents with great humour, warmth and integrity the lives of those who inhabit the periphery. Cocktails featured a selection of portraits, still life and landscape photographs from series such as The Female Pike, Organised Freedom and Harmony Sisters. Shown in assorted found wooden frames, weathered by time, his images acquire a timeless, almost painterly quality.

Esko Männikkö was chosen by the Jury members, Els Barents, Director, Huis Marseille (The Netherlands), Jem Southam, photographer (UK), Thomas Weski, Chief Curator, Haus der Kunst (Germany) and Anne-Marie Beckmann, Curator, Art Collection Deutsche Börse (Germany).

The other shortlisted photographers in this year’s Prize, each awarded £3,000, are: John Davies (b.1949, UK), Jacob Holdt (b. 1947, Denmark), Fazal Sheikh (b.1965, USA). This year’s shortlist demonstrates a focused and sustained commitment to exploring subjects of social and political importance through photography. For further information on each of the shortlisted photographers’ work on display please visit the gallery website.

Brett Rogers, Chair of the Jury and Director of The Photographers’ Gallery, said: “The four nominees on this year’s shortlist eschew the fashionable in favour of social and political engagement. Esko Männikkö’s pictorial risk-taking, combined with his poetic approach to dealing with universal issues such as alienation and identity, greatly impressed the 2008 Jury. In his books and on the gallery walls, Männikkö has successfully created an authentic and compelling new photographic vision that fuses social documentary and fine art.”

Alexandra Hachmeister, in charge of Corporate Responsibility for Deutsche Börse, stated: “As title sponsor, we are very proud to see how the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize has evolved into one of the most prestigious and important awards for contemporary photography. The Prize reflects the diversity of photography in a unique and excellent way and stands for high quality. The Photography Prize plays a key role in our commitment to the medium. We congratulate Esko Männikkö on being awarded the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2008.”

Further information about the competition is available at the Photographer's Gallery website.