Prix Pictet - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

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Pictet & Cie

-Pictet & Cie, Private Bankers, Geneva, Switzerland:Founded in 1805 in Geneva, Pictet & Cie is today one of Switzerland's largest private banks, and one of the premier independent asset management specialists in Europe...

, the Prix Pictet is the world’s first prize dedicated to photography and sustainability. It has a unique mandate – to use the power of photography to communicate vital messages to a global audience. The goal is to uncover art of the highest order, applied to confront the pressing social and environmental challenges of the new millennium. The contest, developed along with the Financial Times

Financial Times

The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

, is judged by an independent jury and carries a prize of CHF 100,000. The Chairman of the Prize is Stephen Barber, Group Managing Director, Pictet & Cie

Pictet & Cie

and the Director is Michael Benson, Director, Candlestar. The Honorary President of the Prix Pictet is former UN Secretary, HE Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

. Stephen Barber is the twin brother of Lionel Barber

Lionel Barber

Lionel Barber is an English journalist.Barber was appointed Editor of the Financial Times in November 2005. Previously, he was the Financial Times' U.S. Managing Editor and before that, Editor of the FT's Continental European edition , during which he briefed US President George W. Bush ahead of...

, editor of the Financial Times.

Process

The Prix Pictet is an bosta annual search for photographs that communicate important messages about global environmental issues under a broad theme. Entry to the Prix Pictet is by nomination. The nominators for the Prix Pictet are a group of leading experts in the visual arts, including directors and curators of major museums and galleries as well as journalists and critics. Individually they lead the search for the series of images that have the power and artistic quality demanded by the Prix. Each nominator is invited to propose a maximum of ten photographers.
Each nominated candidate is asked to provide a series of pictures coherently defined and focused on the theme of the award and limited to no more than ten images. All submissions are made online in a private artists’ zone on the Prix Pictet website.
The Prix Pictet is judged by an independent Jury of internationally recognised experts, currently led by Professor Sir David King. In the search for images the subject matter is not tightly defined, nor is the technique used to produce the image. The judges are simply looking for original contributions which, in their opinion, make best use of the resources of photography to communicate the issues raised by the topic for the cycle.
Following the judges’ selection of the shortlist, the artists concerned are contacted by the Secretariat and invited to submit their work for the shortlist exhibition. As well as the overall Prix Pictet winner, one of the shortlisted photographers is in each cycle invited to complete the Prix Pictet Commission. The Commission is focused on a country or region where Pictet & Cie is supporting a sustainability project related to the theme of the year’s award.
In arriving at their final decision on the award, the judges make no distinction between photographs of different genres, nor do they assume different potential types of audience for any class of photograph.
Following an assessment of the work in a gallery setting, the Jury select the winner of the Prix Pictet who receives the prize of CHF100,000. The name of the winning photographer is announced at an opening ceremony of the exhibition of shortlisted artists, and at the same time one of the shortlisted photographers is invited to complete the Commission.

History

The inaugural Prix Pictet took place in 2008 and the prize is now in its third cycle; the prize currently operates on an approximately 18-month cycle. H.E. Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

, Nobel laureate and former Secretary General of the United Nations, is the Prix’s Honorary President. In each cycle the Prix organises a touring exhibition and publishes an accompanying book. The themes for the first two cycles were 'Water' (2008) and 'Earth' (2009). The winners of the Prix Pictet have been Benoit Aquin (2008) and Nadav Kander (2009). The recipients of the Commission have been Munem Wasif (2008) and Ed Kashi

Ed Kashi

Ed Kashi is an American photojournalist and member of VII Photo based in the Greater New York area. Kashi's award-winning work spans from high-end print photojournalism to experimental film...

(2009) for their series on Bangladesh and Madagascar respectively.

Advisors

The members of the Prix Pictet Advisory Board act as informal and occasional advisers to the Prix Pictet Executive. The current board of advisers includes: Ivan Pictet, Chairman and former Senior Partner, Pictet & Cie

Pictet & Cie

; Dr Christopher Brown, Director, Ashmolean Museum

Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...

; Régis Durand, Critic; Abbas Kiarostami

Abbas Kiarostami

Abbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...

, Film Director; Fatima Maleki, Art Collector; Richard Misrach

Richard Misrach

Richard Misrach is an American photographer known for his photographs of human intervention in landscapes. His works are represented in more than fifty major museum collections around the world....

, Artist; Lady Myners, Chair, Institute of Contemporary Arts

Institute of Contemporary Arts

The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...

; Sandy Nairne

Sandy Nairne

Alexander Robert "Sandy" Nairne CBE is a British museum director and writer. Since 2002, he has been the director of the National Portrait Gallery.-Life and career:...

, Director, National Portrait Gallery (London); Michael Nyman

Michael Nyman

Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...

, Composer and Artist; Lord Palumbo, Art Collector and Trustee; Nigel Pleming, QC; Thaddaeus Ropac

Thaddaeus Ropac

Thaddaeus Ropac , is a gallerist specializing in European and American Contemporary art. He owns the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac based in Salzburg and Paris ....

, Owner, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

The Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac was founded in 1983 and has specialized in European and North American contemporary art.Today the gallery’s headquarters are housed in the magnificent Villa Kast on Salzburg’s Mirabellplatz. In 1990, a gallery featuring over 600m2 of exhibition space was opened in Paris....

; Professor Martin Roth, Director, V&A; Charles Saumarez Smith

Charles Saumarez Smith

Charles Robert Saumarez Smith CBE is a British art historian. He was Director of the National Portrait Gallery from 1994 to 2002. From 2002 to 2007 he was director of the National Gallery and is currently Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts...

, CBE, Secretary and Chief Executive, Royal Academy of Arts; Princess Marianne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, Photographer; Olga Sviblova, Director, Moscow House of Photography

Moscow House of Photography

Moscow House of Photography is a Russian museum, which maintains a large collection of old and contemporary Russian photographic masterpieces and also organizes festivals and large scale projects....

; Sir John Tusa, Chairman, University of the Arts London

University of the Arts London

The University of the Arts London, formerly known as the London Institute, is a collegiate university comprising six internationally recognised art, design, fashion and media colleges in London, England...

; and Roxane Zand, Director, Sotheby’s Middle East.

Prix Pictet - Power

The theme for the fourth cycle of the prize will be 'Power'. Stephen Barber

Stephen Barber

Stephen Barber is a British political scientist / political economist, and author based at London South Bank University. He is also a Senior Fellow at London Metropolitan University's Global Policy Institute. He has also worked in the European Research Forum...

, Chairman of Prix Pictet, announced the new theme at the Rencontres d'Arles

Rencontres d'Arles

The Rencontres d'Arles is a summer festival of photography, founded in 1970 by the photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historian Jean-Maurice Rouquette. It takes place between July and September in Arles, a town in Provence, southern France.The festival shows mostly new...

: "From the awesome power of the natural world and of industrial power harnessed by man, to the spontaneous power of people to effect change, 'Power' has enormous breadth, embracing contradiction and paradox in equal measure. As a theme it is positive and negative. In short, 'Power' has the potential to uncover images and issues that are both awe-inspiring and disturbing."

Prix Pictet - Growth

The third cycle of the prize had the theme of ‘Growth’, which is described by the Prix Pictet as "At once a blessing and a curse", presenting "one of the great conundrums facing humanity in the early decades of the twenty-first century. From the dizzying expansion of our cities with their ever increasing dependency on scarce natural resources to the relentless growth of populations and the need to feed ourselves." The third award attracted over 450 nominations, put forward by more than 100 Prix Pictet nominators.

Jury - Growth

The Prix Pictet Jury for ‘Growth’ was led by Professor Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at the University of Oxford. Other members of the judging panel were Shahidul Alam

Shahidul Alam

' was born in 1955 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He studied and taught chemistry in London where he obtained a PhD from the University of London.He started photography in 1980 and was awarded the by the London Arts Council in 1983...

, Photographer and Critic; Peter Aspden, Arts Writer, Financial Times; Michael Fried, Critic and Art Historian; Loa Haagen Pictet, Art Consultant and Curator, Pictet & Cie; Nadav Kander

Nadav Kander

Nadav Kander is a London based photographer, artist and director, internationally renowned for his portraiture and landscapes. His work forms part of the public collection at the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Kander's work is also exhibited in numerous...

, Winner, Prix Pictet 2009; Christine Loh

Christine Loh

- External links :* ] ]*...

, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Civic Exchange (Hong Kong); and Fumio Nanjo

Fumio Nanjo

is the director of the Mori Art Museum, and a graduate of Keio University.- References :...

, Director, Mori Art Museum (Tokyo).

Shortlisted Artists - Growth

The shortlist of twelve international photographers was announced on 10 November 2010 at the Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire in Paris, France. The shortlist included:

Christian Als, Denmark
Edward Burtynsky, Canada
Stéphane Couturier, France
Mitch Epstein, US
Chris Jordan, US
Yeondoo Jung, Korea
Vera Lutter, Germany
Nyaba Leon Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso
Taryn Simon, US
Thomas Struth, US
Guy Tillim, South Africa
Michael Wolf, Germany

The shortlisted works were previewed at Les Filles du Calvaire between 12 and 27 November 2010.

Award Ceremony - Growth

The Prix Pictet Growth was awarded to Mitch Epstein

Mitch Epstein

Mitchell "Mitch" Epstein is an American photographer whose photographs are in numerous major museum collections, including New York's Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Tate Modern in...

for his series, 'American Power', by Kofi Annan at Passage de Retz, Paris on 17 March 2011. Chris Jordan

Chris Jordan (artist)

Chris Jordan is an artist based in Seattle, Washington who is best known for his large scale works depicting mass consumption and waste, particularly garbage...

was awarded the third Prix Pictet commission.

Commission - Growth

Each year the Partners of Pictet & Cie commission a shortlisted photographer to undertake a field trip to a region where the Bank is supporting a sustainability project. American photographer Chris Jordan was invited to undertake the third Price Pictet Commission. He is currently carrying out fieldwork in Northern Kenya with the support of the Tusk Trust.

Tusk Trust

The Tusk Trust is an organization set up in 1990 to help to protect African wildlife including African elephants.Tusk Trust was set up by Charles Mayhew, MBE, who is the Chief Executive...

In 2011, Pictet & Cie is supporting the work of Tusk Trust in Africa. Tusk is responsible for the development of forty different programmes of conservation and sustainable community development in seventeen African countries. Among Tusk’s many initiatives, the Partners of Pictet & Cie have decided to support the Nakuprat Conservancy a new community-led initiative in Kenya.

After a field trip to the region, Chris Jordan will produce a portfolio of photographs that will document the issues of ‘Growth’ faced by the local community. His images will be premiered at Diemar/Noble Photography, London in October 2011.

Growth Book

'Growth', the book of the third Prix Pictet, is published and distributed worldwide by teNeues. The book catalogues the work of the shortlisted photographers as well as outstanding images by many of the artists nominated but not shortlisted for the award. Royalties from the sale of the book will go to support the Prix Pictet Commission. 'Growth' is available from gallery bookshops and other outlets worldwide, as well as through teNeues online. There is a foreword by Kofi Annan, Prix Pictet's Honorary President and essays by Sue Steward and Leo Johnson.

Touring Exhibition 2011-2012

The exhibition of photographs by artists shortlisted for the third Prix Pictet will tour globally throughout 2011-2012. The exhibition has been to Paris (Filles du Calvaire and Passage de Retz), Thessaloniki (Museum of Photography), Zurich (Galerie Christophe Guye), and Milan (Galleria Carla Sozzani). Future venues include Dusseldorf (Arteversum, September 2011), Madrid (Jardín Botánico, October), Dublín (Gallery of Photography, November), Washington (The Corcoran Gallery of Art, November), Beirut (Ayyam Gallery, March), and London (Purdy Hicks, February). Further proposals from major international galleries are currently under consideration.

The Prix Pictet Commission by Chris Jordan will be previewed at Diemar/Noble Photography, London, in September, at the same time the Fourth Prix Pictet will be launched.

There will also be two unique exhibitions; an exhibition of artists selected from the first three shortlists entitled 'Infinite Balance' at the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, 11 October 2011 – 5 February 2012, and an exhibition of the first three commissioned artists at Arteversum, Dusseldorf in October.

Partnership with the Whitechapel Gallery

The first in the series of Whitechapel/Prix Pictet Conversations on Photography took place at the Whitechapel Gallery

Whitechapel Gallery

The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, it was founded in 1901 as one of the first publicly-funded galleries for temporary exhibitions in London, and it has a long...

in London on 7 July 2011. This inaugural discussion featured shortlisted artist Thomas Struth

Thomas Struth

Thomas Struth is a German photographer whose wide-ranging work includes depictions of detailed cityscapes, Asian jungles and family portraits. He is one of Germany's most widely exhibited and collected fine art photographers...

and the distinguished designer and academic, Professor Nana Last. It took place against the backdrop of 'Thomas Struth: Photographs 1978 – 2010' a major exhibition of Struth’s work that opened at the Whitechapel, earlier that week.
In front of a full house, Struth discussed his long and successful career and the many influences and inspirations in his work. He talked extensively about the 'Paradise Series', for which he was shortlisted for the Prix Pictet, and about the curatorial thinking behind the current exhibition that features over 70 works made between 1978 - 2010.
This conversation was the first in a series of Whitechapel/Prix Pictet conversations on contemporary photography. The next conversation will take place at the Gallery in Autumn 2011.

Prix Pictet - Earth

The theme of the second cycle of the prize, in 2009, was 'Earth'. The Prix Pictet described the theme thus: "...in this context ['Earth'] refers to the planet and the soil beneath our feet, and to the marks that man makes on the face of the land – either directly through the creation of mines, toxic waste, broken urban wastelands, vast refuse dumps and blasted desert landscapes; or indirectly, through the scars left by fire, flood or famine and the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanoes or the migration of displaced people".
The second award attracted over 300 nominations, put forward by more than seventy Prix Pictet nominators. The Judges commented, "The submissions spoke of the harmful and often irreversible effects of exploiting the earth’s resources and reflect on the immediate and long-term impact of unsustainable development on communities across the globe."

Jury - Earth

The 2009 Prix Pictet Jury was led by Francis Hodgson, Photography Critic, Financial Times. Other members of the judging panel were Benoit Aquin, Winner, Prix Pictet 'Water'; Jan Dalley, Arts Editor, Financial Times; Loa Haagen Pictet, Art Consultant & Curator, Pictet & Cie; Professor Sir David King, Director, Smith School of Enterprise and Environment, University of Oxford and former Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government; and Fumio Nanjo

Fumio Nanjo

is the director of the Mori Art Museum, and a graduate of Keio University.- References :...

, Director, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.

Shortlisted Artists - Earth

The shortlist of twelve international photographers was announced on 9 July 2009 at the photography festival, Les Rencontres d’Arles in France. The shortlist included:

Darren Almond, UK
Christopher Anderson, Canada
Sammy Baloji, Congo
Edward Burtynsky, Canada
Andreas Gursky, Germany
Naoya Hatakeyama, Japan
Nadav Kander, UK
Ed Kashi, USA
Abbas Kowsari, Iran
Yao Lu, China
Edgar Martins, Portugal
Chris Steele-Perkins, UK

The shortlisted works were previewed at Purdy Hicks Gallery in London from 5 to 7 October 2009 and at Passage de Retz Gallery in Paris from 23 October to 24 November 2009.

Award Ceremony - Earth

Kofi Annan, honorary president of the Prix Pictet, announced the winner on 22 October 2009 at the Passage de Retz Gallery, Paris. British-based photographer Nadav Kander

Nadav Kander

won for his series of photographs "Yangtze, The Long River", 2006-07, documenting the rapidly changing landscape and communities of China's Yangtze River, from its mouth to source. The American photographer Ed Kashi

Ed Kashi

Ed Kashi is an American photojournalist and member of VII Photo based in the Greater New York area. Kashi's award-winning work spans from high-end print photojournalism to experimental film...

was awarded the 'Earth' Commission for his series, "The Curse of the Black Gold".

Commission - Earth

For 2009 Pictet & Cie supported the work of Azafady

Azafady

Azafady is a registered UK charity and Malagasy non-governmental organisation, established in 1994, working in southeast Madagascar to alleviate poverty, improve well-being and protect unique environments...

in Madagascar. Azafady is a pioneering eco-charity that works in partnership with disadvantaged communities to improve living standards and quality of life in positive coexistence with the fragile and unique local environment.

The commissioned artist, American photographer Ed Kashi

Ed Kashi

Ed Kashi is an American photojournalist and member of VII Photo based in the Greater New York area. Kashi's award-winning work spans from high-end print photojournalism to experimental film...

, visited Madagascar in early 2010 and produced a series of photographs that document both Azafady’s projects and the process of deforestation and desertification in Madagascar. The images made for the Prix Pictet Commission 2009 were shown in London at the Diemar/Noble Photography gallery.

Earth Book

Published by teNeues

TeNeues

teNeues is a publishing company founded by Dr. Heinz teNeues in Krefeld, Germany, in 1931. It is a third generation family firm and one of the leading book publishers in the areas of photography, design, lifestyle, and travel...

, Earth is a review of the 2009 Prix Pictet that showcases the work of the 12 artists shortlisted for the 2009 award, alongside selected photographs by nominated photographers that best responded to the theme of Earth. As H.E. Kofi Annan noted in the book's Foreword, "in presenting these images in this way, Earth becomes a lament for the globe we inhabit as well as a compelling argument for action". Earth is distributed worldwide by teNeues

TeNeues

and any profits accrued from the publication are used to support the Prix Pictet Commission.

Touring Exhibition 2010-2011

The international Tour of the second cycle of the Prix Pictet included exhibitions in Paris, Thessaloniki, Dubai, Eindhoven, Dublin, Bonn, Moscow, Berlin, Milan, Madrid and New Delhi.

Prix Pictet - Water

The theme of the firs cycle of the prize, in 2008, was 'Water', introduced by the Prix Pictet thus: "...it is, after all, through water that we are seeing the earliest and most devastating manifestations of the climate change: threats to our food supply, to our health, to fragile ecosystems, to the ground on which we live and even our peace and security". The nominators group comprised 49 leading experts in the visual arts

Visual arts

The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...

, from six continents. They individually nominated over 200 photographers from 43 countries.
Eighteen of the world’s finest photographers were shortlisted for the prize. An exhibition of the Prix Pictet finalists’ works took place at the Palais de Tokyo

Palais de Tokyo

The Palais de Tokyo is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, located at 13 avenue du Président-Wilson, near the Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The eastern wing of the building belongs the City of Paris and hosts the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris...

from 31 October to 8 November 2008.

Jury - Water

The members of the 2008 Jury were Francis Hodgson, Chairman, then Head of Photographs, Sotheby’s, London; Peter Aspden, Arts Writer, Financial Times; Regis Durand, Writer and Critic, Art Exhibitions Curator; Leo Johnson, Co-Founder, Sustainable Finance; Abbas Kiarostami

Abbas Kiarostami

, Film Director, Screenwriter and Film Producer; Richard Misrach

Richard Misrach

Richard Misrach is an American photographer known for his photographs of human intervention in landscapes. His works are represented in more than fifty major museum collections around the world....

, Photographer/Artist; and Loa Haagen Pictet, Art Consultant & Curator, Pictet & Cie.

Shortlisted Artists - Water

Benoit Aquin (winner), Canada
Edward Burtynksky, Canada
Jesús Abad Colorado

Jesús Abad Colorado

Jesús Abad Colorado is a Colombian photojournalist. His work focuses on human rights and armed conflict.He was born in 1967 in Medellín, Colombia. He received a BA in Communications from the University of Antioquia. He worked as a photographer for the Medellín newspaper El Colombiano from 1992...

, Colombia
Thomas Joshua Cooper

Thomas Joshua Cooper

Thomas Joshua Cooper is an American photographer of Cherokee descent. He is considered amongst the premier contemporary landscape photographers....

, USA
Sebastian Copeland, UK/France
Christian Cravo, Brazil
Lynn Davis

Lynn Davis

Lynn Davis is an American photographer known for her large-scale black-and-white photographs which are widely collected publicly and privately and are internationally exhibited.- Biography :...

, USA
Reza Deghati

Reza Deghati

Reza Deghati, born 1952 in Tabriz, Iran is an Iranian-French photojournalist, who works under the name Reza .-Biography:Reza has covered much of the globe for National Geographic Magazine. Several films about Reza's work have been produced by National Geographic Television, most notably Frontline...

, Iran/France
Susan Derges

Susan Derges

Susan Derges, is an internationally recognised photographic artist, specialising in camera-less photographic processes, most often working with natural landscapes...

, UK
Malcolm Hutcheson, UK
Chris Jordan

Chris Jordan (artist)

Chris Jordan is an artist based in Seattle, Washington who is best known for his large scale works depicting mass consumption and waste, particularly garbage...

, USA
Carl De Keyzer

Carl de Keyzer

Carl de Keyzer is a Belgian contemporary photographer. He was nominated to the Magnum Photos agency in 1990, became an associated member in 1992 and a full member in 1994.-Career:...

, Belgium
David Maisel, USA
Mary Mattingly

Mary Mattingly

Mary Mattingly is an American visual artist living and working in New York. She was born in Rockville, Connecticut in 1978. She has studied at Parsons School of Design in New York, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon...

, USA
Robert Polidori

Robert Polidori

Robert Polidori is a photographer known for his architectural studies and frequent contributions to magazines and books.-Biography:...

, Canada
Roman Signer

Roman Signer

Roman Signer is principally a visual artist who works in sculpture, installations photography, and video.-Early life and career:...

, Switzerland
Jules Spinatsch, Switzerland
Munem Wasif, Bangladesh

Award Ceremony - Water

The winner of the inaugural Prix Pictet was announced by H.E. Kofi Annan, Honorary President of the Prix Pictet, at the award ceremony at the Palais de Tokyo on 30 October 2008. Canadian photographer, Benoit Aquin, won for his series of photographs, “The Chinese Dust Bowl”, on desertification in China. Bangladeshi photographer Munem Wasif was awarded the first Prix Pictet Commission.

Commission - Water

In 2008, Pictet worked with WaterAid

WaterAid

WaterAid is an international non-profit organisation set up as a response to the UN International Drinking Water & Sanitation decade . WaterAid is dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation. It is based in London, England and was...

, a UK based charity with a mission to overcome poverty by enabling the world's poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. Through this collaboration, shortlisted artist Munem Wasif was commissioned to visit the Satkhira region of south-west Bangladesh where WaterAid were about to introduce water and sanitation facilities to the area of Shyamnagar Upazila.

Through the Commission Wasif gained unique access to largely overlooked areas of his native land suffering from devastating water shortages. The result was a powerful series of photographs, Salt Water Tears: Lives Left Behind in Satkhira, Bangladesh, that speak of the human tragedy that plays out in the region on a daily basis.

Water Book

Published by teNeues, Water reviews the evolution and development of the Prix Pictet 2008, presenting text and images to communicate the Prize's global message on the issue of sustainability. The book showcases the 18 shortlisted artists, alongside selected photographs by nominated photographers that best represent the vision of the prize and the theme of Water. There is a foreword by Kofi Annan, Prix Pictet's Honorary President, essays by Francis Hodgson and Leo Johnson, and an Afterword by Stephen Barber, explaining the inspiration and ambition of the Prix.

Touring Exhibition 2008-9

A selection of images from the Prix Pictet 2008 Shortlist was initially exhibited at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the first destination of the exhibition tour from 9 -27 November 2008.
A selection of 50 works from the Prix Pictet Shortlist for 'Water' was also shown at the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, as part of the exhibition Water – Currents, from December 2008 to late March 2009. Over 15,000 people visited the show curated by Gabriel Bauret and Vangelis Ioakimidis, which was presented in collaboration with the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
The international Tour of Prix Pictet 'Water' also included exhibitions at The Rotunda, Exchange Square, Central, Hong Kong from 12 -19 March 2009 and in April 2009 the witnessed the opening of the complete exhibition of the Prix Pictet 2008 shortlisted images at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
Finally, an exhibition of images selected from the Prix Pictet Shortlist 2008 was shown in late April 2009 at the Kempinski Hotel, Dresden, alongside an exhibition of the Prix Pictet 2008 Commission with Munem Wasif’s new images at the Dresdner Residenzschloss.

External links

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