Earth 2010
Nadav Kander, Chongqing IV (Sunday Picnic), Chongqing, China, 2006.
The theme of the second cycle of the Prix Pictet was Earth. Earth refers to the planet and the soil beneath our feet, to the marks that 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.
For the Earth award there were entries from 270 photographers, nominated by over seventy art and sustainability specialists from five continents. The shortlist of twelve photographers was presented at Les Rencontres d’Arles Festival on 9 July 2009. The Prix Pictet Earth was awarded to Nadav Kander for his series Yangtze: The Long River by Kofi Annan at the opening of the exhibition of works by the shortlisted artists in Paris on 22 October 2009. As part of the Prix Pictet award, the Partners of the Pictet Group invited Ed Kashi to undertake the second Commission, for which he produced the photographic series Madagascar: A Land Out of Balance.
Shortlist
Nadav Kander, Yangtze, The Long River, 2006-2007
Darren Almond, Fullmoon, 1998-2010
Christopher Anderson, Capitolio, 2004-2009
Sammy Baloji, Memory, 2006
Edward Burtynsky, Quarries, 1991-2006
Andreas Gursky, Body of Work, 2002
Ed Kashi, Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta, 2004-2006
Naoya Hatakeyama, Blast, 1995-2010
Abbas Kowsari, Shade of Earth, 2007-2008
Yao Lu, New Mountain and Water, 2007
Edgar Martins, The Diminishing Present, 2005-2008
Chris Steele-Perkins, Mount Fuji, 2000-2001
Jury
The jury 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 qcuality and narrative power and fit the theme of a particular cycle.
Francis Hodgson, Chairman
Photography Critic, Financial Times
Benoit Aquin
Winner, Prix Pictet 2008
Jan Dalley
Arts Editor, Financial Times
Loa Haagen Pictet
Art Consultant & Curator, Pictet & Cie
Zaha Hadid
Founding Partner of Zaha Hadid Architects
Professor Sir David King
Director, Smith School of Enterprise and Environment, University of Oxford and former Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government
Fumio Nanjo
Director, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Winner interview
Nadav Kander, laureate of Earth cycle, talks about his winning series Yangtze - The Long River at an exhibition of Prix Pictet Laureates in the Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Exhibitions and events
Earth Commission
The Prix Pictet Commission is an invitation from the Partners of the Pictet Group to one of the nominated photographers to undertake a field trip to a region where the Bank are supporting a sustainability project run by a charity or other NGO.
The Earth commission supported the work of Azafady, a UK charity and Malagasy-registered NGO that helps the poorest communities in Madagascar develop sustainable ways of living and increase local access to healthcare and education.American photographer Ed Kashi was invited to undertake this commission.
Ed Kashi, from series Madagascar: A Land Out of Balance, The rice fields demanding huge quantities of water that is increasingly scarce. Zebu are used to churn the mud, ensuring a saturation that will enable the rice to germinate. They are herded by mud-soaked figures in a tremendous dance, Mangosy, between man and beast. Madagascar, 2010., ©2010/Ed Kashi