The eleven winners of the Prix Pictet since 2008
Exhibitions and Events · 17 Jun 2026
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The Prix Pictet has been awarded to eleven photographers since 2008. (Re)discover their winning series.
Prix Pictet Storm shortlist exhibition at the V&A South Kensington, London (credit: Magnus Arrevad).
Every second year, Prix Pictet focuses on a different theme that promotes discussion and debate on issues of sustainability. A prize of 100,000 Swiss Francs 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.
Alfredo Jaar wins Prix Pictet Storm for his series The End.
Alfredo Jaar is a Chilean artist, architect, and filmmaker whose acclaimed work documents humanity's impact on the planet, addressing the effects of unethical global extractivism.
The End is a lament for our dying planet. The series focuses on the tragic fate of the Great Salt Lake in Utah—an ecosystem destroyed by excessive water extraction. Jaar deliberately printed these images in a small, unspectacular format as a "visual whisper."
The End is a lament for our dying planet. The series focuses on the tragic fate of the Great Salt Lake in Utah—an ecosystem destroyed by excessive water extraction. Jaar deliberately printed these images in a small, unspectacular format as a "visual whisper."
Gauri Gill wins Prix Pictet Human for her series Notes from the Desert.
Gauri Gill is an Indian photographer whose deeply collaborative practice spans over two decades, focusing on marginalized communities in rural India.
Notes from the Desert is an intimate, long-term archive documenting the lives, struggles, and resilient humanity of marginalized communities in the harsh desert regions of western Rajasthan.
Notes from the Desert is an intimate, long-term archive documenting the lives, struggles, and resilient humanity of marginalized communities in the harsh desert regions of western Rajasthan.
Sally Mann wins Prix Pictet Fire for his series Blackwater.
Sally Mann is one of America's most renowned photographers, known for her intimate portraits and evocative landscapes that explore memory, mortality, and the American South.
Blackwater is a haunting exploration of the destructive and renewing nature of fire. Using vintage photographic processes, Mann captured the scorched landscapes of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia, reflecting on environmental and historical trauma.
Blackwater is a haunting exploration of the destructive and renewing nature of fire. Using vintage photographic processes, Mann captured the scorched landscapes of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia, reflecting on environmental and historical trauma.
Joana Choumali wins Prix Pictet Hope for her series Ça va aller (it will be ok).
Joana Choumali is an Ivorian photographer whose work blends documentary photography with mixed media, often exploring identity and the environment around her in Abidjan.
Ça va aller was created in the aftermath of the 2016 terrorist attacks in Grand-Bassam. Choumali took smartphone photographs of her city and painstakingly embroidered them with brightly colored thread as a meditative act of processing trauma and finding hope.
Ça va aller was created in the aftermath of the 2016 terrorist attacks in Grand-Bassam. Choumali took smartphone photographs of her city and painstakingly embroidered them with brightly colored thread as a meditative act of processing trauma and finding hope.
Richard Mosse wins Prix Pictet Space for his series Heat Maps.
Richard Mosse is an Irish conceptual documentary photographer known for using specialized military imaging technologies to reframe complex global narratives.
In Heat Maps, Mosse used a military-grade thermal camera designed for border surveillance to map refugee camps across Europe and the Middle East. The technology registers body heat, rendering humans as glowing figures and highlighting the stark realities of displacement.
In Heat Maps, Mosse used a military-grade thermal camera designed for border surveillance to map refugee camps across Europe and the Middle East. The technology registers body heat, rendering humans as glowing figures and highlighting the stark realities of displacement.
Valérie Belin wins Prix Pictet Disorder for her series Still Life.
Valérie Belin is a French photographer whose highly stylized, visually dense work explores the boundaries between living beings and inanimate objects.
Still Life is a chaotic, visually overwhelming series exploring consumer culture. Belin layered images of cheap, mass-produced plastic items with classical motifs, creating a sense of suffocating excess and visual disorder.
Still Life is a chaotic, visually overwhelming series exploring consumer culture. Belin layered images of cheap, mass-produced plastic items with classical motifs, creating a sense of suffocating excess and visual disorder.
Michael Schmidt wins Prix Pictet Consumption for his series Lebensmittel (Food).
Michael Schmidt was a celebrated German photographer whose rigorous, decades-long projects documented the social and architectural landscapes of Europe.
Lebensmittel is an epic, unsentimental journey through the global food industry. Schmidt photographed everything from industrial farms to slaughterhouses and packaged goods, exposing the hidden realities of mass consumption.
Lebensmittel is an epic, unsentimental journey through the global food industry. Schmidt photographed everything from industrial farms to slaughterhouses and packaged goods, exposing the hidden realities of mass consumption.
Luc Delahaye wins Prix Pictet Power for his series Various Works.
Luc Delahaye is a French photographer who transitioned from a prominent photojournalist to a visual artist, creating large-scale, intensely detailed tableaux of global events.
Various Works contains monumental, highly detailed panoramic images capturing the raw exercise of power—from the devastation of war zones and natural disasters to the sterile environments of global political summits.
Various Works contains monumental, highly detailed panoramic images capturing the raw exercise of power—from the devastation of war zones and natural disasters to the sterile environments of global political summits.
Mitch Epstein wins Prix Pictet Growth for his series American Power.
Mitch Epstein is an American photographer and pioneer of fine-art color photography, known for his incisive cultural landscapes.
American Power is an examination of how energy production impacts the American landscape and its communities. The images reveal the towering, often imposing presence of power plants and industrial sites overshadowing residential neighborhoods.
American Power is an examination of how energy production impacts the American landscape and its communities. The images reveal the towering, often imposing presence of power plants and industrial sites overshadowing residential neighborhoods.
Nadav Kander wins Prix Pictet Earth for his series Yangtze, The Long River.
Nadav Kander is a British Israeli photographer renowned for his portraiture and monumental landscape photography that explores the footprint of human intervention.
Yangtze, The Long River is a journey along China's Yangtze River, capturing a landscape in radical transition. The series highlights the massive scale of industrialization and the displacement of people, dwarfed by gargantuan infrastructure projects.
Yangtze, The Long River is a journey along China's Yangtze River, capturing a landscape in radical transition. The series highlights the massive scale of industrialization and the displacement of people, dwarfed by gargantuan infrastructure projects.
Benoit Aquin wins Prix Pictet Water for his series The Chinese 'Dust Bowl' .
Benoît Aquin is a Canadian documentary photographer dedicated to exploring pressing environmental issues and humanity's relationship with the natural world.
The Chinese 'Dust Bowl' is a stark documentation of the devastating desertification in northern China caused by poor water management and over-farming. Aquin's images capture the blinding dust storms and the millions of people forced to become ecological refugees.
The Chinese 'Dust Bowl' is a stark documentation of the devastating desertification in northern China caused by poor water management and over-farming. Aquin's images capture the blinding dust storms and the millions of people forced to become ecological refugees.
Jogiyon ka Dera, Lunkaransar, 1999-ongoing
Blackwater 9, 2008 – 2012
Untitled, 2019
DUST STORM DAILY LIFE Xilingol steppe, Inner Mongolia Province, April 29th, 2006 Ñ Daily life during the Òdusty weather seasonÓ (January-May) in the town of Sanggen Dalai, that stands amid the Hunshandake Sandland. The rangelands in that arid expanse of the Xiligol steppe have nearly disappeared.The famous Xilingol steppe, 600 km north of Beijing, faces increasing desertification. The once-green land has been overgrazed by a booming number of livestock, becoming a major source of dust storms over northern Chinese cities, including Beijing, and reaching as far as Japan, Korea and North America.
Winners of the Prix Pictet since 2008
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Alfredo JaarThe End2025
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Gauri Gill (winner)Notes from the Desert1999-ongoing
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Sally Mann (winner)Blackwater2008-2012
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Joana Choumali (winner)Ça va aller2016-2019
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Richard Mosse (winner)Heat Maps2016
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Valérie Belin (winner)Still Life2014
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Michael Schmidt (winner)Lebensmittel2006-2010
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Luc Delahaye (winner)Various works2008 – 2011
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Mitch Epstein (winner)American Power2003-2008
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Nadav Kander (winner)Yangtze, The Long River2006-2007
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Benoit Aquin (winner)The Chinese 'Dust Bowl'2006-2007