Harnessing the power of photography to draw global attention to issues of sustainability
The Prix Pictet is the world’s leading award for photography and sustainability. It was founded in 2008 by the Pictet Group with the goal of harnessing the power of photography to draw global attention to the critical issue of sustainability.
Entry to the award is strictly by nomination. The Prix Pictet maintains a network of over 350 nominators, who include critics, curators, and other specialists in photography. Since the award’s inception, more than 5,600 photographers have been nominated.
For each cycle, 100,000 CHF is awarded 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 current cycle’s theme.
To date, there have been ten cycles of the award, each with its own theme highlighting a particular facet of sustainability.
The previous winners are Benoit Aquin (Water), Nadav Kander (Earth), Mitch Epstein (Growth), Luc Delahaye (Power), Michael Schmidt (Consumption), Valérie Belin (Disorder), Richard Mosse (Space), Joana Choumali (Hope), Sally Mann (Fire) and Gauri Gill (Human).
Since 2008, the ten cycles of the Prix Pictet
have toured internationally with visitor numbers of over 1 million.
Award process
Each nominator proposes between one and five photographers. Nominated photographers are invited to submit their work for consideration by the independent jury.
The jury creates a shortlist of twelve photographers based on artistic and photographic merit, originality in conception and/or execution, relevance to the current cycle’s theme, addressing a pressing sustainability challenge, and ensuring their series is a unified and coherent body of work.
From the shortlist, the jury selects a winner. The winner is announced at a ceremony that accompanies the opening of an exhibition featuring the work of the twelve shortlisted photographers. The exhibition then tours internationally.
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.
Human tour at Photo Museum Ireland, Dublin, March 2025. © Photo Museum Ireland
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.
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Lionel Barber
Editor, Financial Times, 2005–20
Trustee, Carnegie Foundation of New York
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Sir Peter Bazalgette
Chair, ITV, 2016–22
Chair, Arts Council England, 2013–17 -
Marcus Brauchli
Managing Editor, the Wall Street Journal 2007–08
Executive Editor, the Washington Post, 2008–12
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Christopher Brown
Director, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1998–2014
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Melanie Clore
Co-Founder, Clore Wyndham Fine Art, London, Co-Chair, Sotheby’s Europe, 2011–16
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Lady Elena Ochoa Foster
Founder and CEO, Ivorypress, Madrid, London
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Francis Hodgson
Professor in the Culture of Photography, University of Brighton, UK
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Maja Hoffmann
Founder and President, LUMA Foundation, Zurich
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Baroness Helena Kennedy, KC
Principal, Mansfield College,
University of Oxford, 2011–18
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Henry Kim
Director and CEO, The Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, 2012–20
Associate Vice Provost and Director, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
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Fatima Maleki
UK-based collector
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Richard Misrach
Berkeley, California-based photographer
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Lady Alison Myners
Chair, Royal Academy Trust, London
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Sandy Nairne CBE
Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, 2002–15
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Fumio Nanjo
Director, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2006–19
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Michael Nyman CBE
UK-based composer and artist
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Lord Palumbo
Chair, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1989-1994
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Ivan Pictet
Senior Managing Partner, Pictet Group, 2005–10
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Nigel Pleming, KC
Barrister
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Thaddaeus Ropac
Founder, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, Salzburg, London, Seoul
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Ralph Rugoff, OBE
Director, Hayward Gallery, London
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Sir Charles Saumarez Smith, CBE
Secretary and Chief Executive, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2007–18
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Marianne Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn
Austria-based photographer
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Olga Sviblova
Founding Director, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow
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Sir John Tusa
Co-Chair, European Union Youth Orchestra Chair, University of the Arts, London, 2007–13
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Roxane Zand
Founder, ZandFineArts, London Deputy Chair, Sotheby’s Middle East, 2006–20
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Slavoj Žižek
International Director, Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, University of London
Advisors
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Francis Hodgson
Photography Adviser
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Leo Johnson
Sustainability Adviser
Timeline
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
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
Mitch Epstein’s American Power wins Prix Pictet Growth
Collaboration with Whitechapel Gallery, London begins with a series of conversations on photography
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
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
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
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
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
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
Human shortlist announced at Rencontres d'Arles
Gauri Gill wins Prix Pictet Human for her series Notes from the Desert
Hatje Cantz publish Human
Storm announced as the eleventh Prix Pictet cycle