Harnessing the power of photography

to draw global attention to issues of sustainability

Harnessing the power of photography to draw global attention to issues of sustainability

The Prix Pictet aims to harness the power of photography – all genres of photography – to draw global attention to issues of sustainability, especially those concerning the environment. Founded in 2008 by the Pictet Group, the Prix Pictet has become the world’s leading award for photography and sustainability. To date, there have been nine cycles of the award each of which has highlighted a particular facet of sustainability.

Entry to the award is strictly by nomination. The network of nominators worldwide (currently numbering over 300) have, over the course of the nine cycles, made 4,700 nominations for the award. Taken together the nominated works present a powerful testament to the fragile state of our planet.

Since 2008 the nine cycles of the Prix Pictet have been shown in exhibitions in many major cities of the world with visitor numbers of over 550,000.

The Prix Pictet is an award of 100,000 CHF given to the photographer who, in the opinion of the

independent jury, has produced a series of work that is both artistically outstanding and presents a compelling narrative related to the theme of the award. The nine Prix Pictet winners are Benoit Aquin, Nadav Kander, Mitch Epstein, Luc Delahaye, Michael Schmidt, Valérie Belin, Richard Mosse, Joana Choumali and Sally Mann.

For each cycle of the Prix Pictet, a book has been published and distributed worldwide. Each book showcases the work of the shortlisted photographers as well as powerful images produced by a selection of the other nominated photographers.

Cycles

Award process

The Prix Pictet aims to uncover photographs that communicate important messages about global environmental and social issues within the broad theme of sustainability. No preference is given to any particular kind of photographic material, technique or creative route, nor are any of these excluded from consideration. An artist using photographs, for example, is judged by precisely the same criteria as a photojournalist or a commercial photographer, or a professional in another field for whom photography may be no more than one of many tools. 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.

entry

Each nominator proposes between two to five photographers. Other photographers wishing to submit their work may contact the secretariat.

selection

The Jury looks for work, arranged in a coherent series, that fits the theme of the particular cycle, which has a high artistic quality and considerable narrative power.

winner announcement

Once the submission process has been completed, the independent jury are responsible for drawing up a Shortlist and selecting a winner.

Nominators

The nominators for the Prix Pictet are a group of leading experts in the visual arts from around the world including directors of major museums and galleries as well as journalists and critics. They lead the global search for images of high artistic quality and narrative power and fit the theme of a particular cycle.

Learn more

Fire tour at Top Museum in Tokyo, Japan, January 2022.

Advisory board

The Prix Pictet Advisory Board is a distinguished group of individuals who act as informal and occasional advisers to the Prix Pictet Executive.

Lionel Barber

Author, former editor of Financial Times

Sir Peter Bazalgette

Chair of LoveCrafts, ITV plc Chair, Arts Council England 2012-2016

Marcus Brauchli

Former Editor, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Co-founder and Managing Partner North Base Media

Christopher Brown

Director, Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology, Oxford 1998–2014

Melanie Clore

Founder, Clore Wyndham Fine Art Former Sotheby’s Chairman of Europe and Former Co-Chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art Worldwide, Trustee of Royal Academy Trust

Régis Durand

Writer and Art Critic

Lady Foster

Founder and CEO, Ivorypress

Francis Hodgson

Professor in the Culture of Photography University of Brighton

Maja Hoffmann

Founder, Luma Foundation

Baroness Kennedy QC

Principal, Mansfield College University of Oxford 2011–2018

Dr Henry S. Kim

Director and CEO Aga Khan Museum, Toronto 2012-2020

Fatima Maleki

Collector

Richard Misrach

Photographer

Lady Myners

Chair, Royal Academy Trust, London Chair, Institute of Contemporary Arts London

Sandy Nairne CBE

Director, National Portrait Gallery London 2002–2015

Fumio Nanjo

Former Director, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo

Michael Nyman CBE

Composer and Artist

Lord Palumbo

Art Collector and Trustee

Ivan Pictet

Chairman Former Senior Managing Partner Pictet Group

Nigel Pleming QC

Barrister

Thaddaeus Ropac

Owner, Galerie Thaddaeus, Paris, Salzburg & London

Ralph Rugoff

Director, Hayward Gallery, London

Dr Charles Saumarez Smith CBE

Professor of Architectural History, Royal Academy of Arts, London. Former Secretary and Chief Executive, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2007-2018

Princess Marianne zu Sayn Wittgenstein-Sayn

Photographer

Olga Sviblova

Director and Founder, Multimedia Art Museum Moscow

Sir John Tusa

Trustee, Co-Chair, European Union Youth Orchestra Former Chairman, University of the Arts, London

Roxane Zand

Former Senior Director, Deputy Chairman, Sotheby’s Middle East and Gulf Region, London, Founder of ZandFineArts

Slavoj Žižek

International Director, Birkbeck College University of London

Prix Pictet Executive

Stephen Barber

Chairman, Prix Pictet and Prix Pictet Ltd

Michael Benson

Director, Prix Pictet and Prix Pictet Ltd, Director, Candlestar

Isabelle von Ribbentrop

Executive Director, Prix Pictet and Prix Pictet Ltd

Prix Pictet Ltd

The business affairs of the Prix Pictet (including artists grants' and contracts, media partnerships, sales etc) are administered by an independent company, Prix Pictet Ltd.

Candlestar

The London based cultural consultancy Candlestar Ltd produces the Prix Pictet. As well as acting as the Secretariat for the award, the team at Candlestar manage all of the administrative, artistic, logistical and curatorial aspects of the Prix Pictet award and the global exhibition tour.

Advisors

Francis Hodgson
Photography Adviser

Leo Johnson
Sustainability Adviser

Fourteen Years, Ten Cycles

2008

Launch of the first Prix Pictet – theme Water Kofi Annan appointed President

The Financial Times becomes global media partner

Prix Pictet awards exhibition at Palais de Tokyo, Paris

Benoit Aquin’s The Chinese Dust Bowl wins inaugural award

teNeues publishes first Prix Pictet book

2009/10

Munem Wasif completes first Prix Pictet Commission (Bangladesh)

Nadav Kander wins Prix Pictet Earth for his series Yangtze, The Long River

First shortlist presentation at Les Rencontres d’Arles

First Prix Pictet touring exhibitions in Eindhoven, Thessaloniki, Hong Kong and Dubai

Ed Kashi completes second Prix Pictet Commission (Madagascar)

First Prix Pictet exhibitions in Russia and India

2011

Mitch Epstein’s American Power wins Prix Pictet Growth

Collaboration with Whitechapel Gallery, London begins with a series of conversations on photography

2012/13

Chris Jordan completes third Prix Pictet Commission (Kenya)

Saatchi Gallery stages first Prix Pictet awards exhibition in London

Luc Delahaye wins Prix Pictet Power

First Prix Pictet exhibitions in USA and Lebanon

Prix Pictet announces partnership with the V&A, London, and Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris

Simon Norfolk completes fourth Prix Pictet Commission (Afghanistan)

Prix Pictet exhibitions in Turkey and Israel

2014

First Prix Pictet awards exhibition at the V&A, London

Michael Schmidt’s Lebensmittel wins Prix Pictet Consumption

Juan Fernando Herrán awarded final Prix Pictet Commission (Colombia)

Les Rencontres d’Arles stages first Prix Pictet Laureates exhibition

Prix Pictet Consumption at the National Museum of Art, Mexico City attracts a record audience of over 100,000

2015/16

First Prix Pictet awards exhibition at the V&A, London

Michael Schmidt’s Lebensmittel wins Prix Pictet Consumption

Juan Fernando Herrán awarded final Prix Pictet Commission (Colombia)

Les Rencontres d’Arles stages first Prix Pictet Laureates exhibition

Prix Pictet Consumption at the National Museum of Art,
Mexico City attracts a record audience of over 100,000

2017/18

Richard Mosse wins Prix Pictet Space for his series Heat Maps

Lieko Shiga’s series Blind Date wins second Prix Pictet Japan Award

Les Rencontres d’Arles stages second Laureates exhibition

Eighth theme of Prix Pictet, Hope, is announced in Arles

teNeues publishes special edition ten to mark first decade of the prize

2019/20

Hope shortlist announced at Les Rencontres d’Arles

Prix Pictet Hope exhibition at the V&A, London

Hope exhibition begins tour at Hillside Forum, Tokyo, with announcement of third Prix Pictet Japan Award

Prix Pictet publishes Confinement, a response to the pandemic by artists previously shortlisted for the award

Joana Choumali’s series Ça va Aller wins the eighth Prix Pictet

2021

Fire shortlist announced at Les Rencontres d’Arles

Prix Pictet Fire exhibition at the V&A, London

Prix Pictet Fire exhibition opens at TOP Museum, Tokyo

Sally Mann wins Prix Pictet Fire for her series Blackwater