Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2022 winner revealed

13 May 2022

Deana Lawson has won the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2022 for her solo exhibition Centropy.

Ms Lawson, from Rochester, New York, was awarded the £30,000 prize on Thursday at a ceremony at The Photographers' Gallery in London.

The annual award recognises artists and projects for their contributions to the world of photography over the past year.

A photo by Deana Lawson of a shirtless man sitting on a sofa, with religious images beside him on the wall — Image caption,
Chief, 2019

The photographer, who is a professor of visual arts in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, cast models to pose in a style reminiscent of family photographs.

While the majority of the models are unrelated, she describes them as a "mythological extended family" in images that provide "portals" into other worlds.

A photo by Deana Lawson of a child wearing a headdress stood on a red sofa, next to a woman who is sitting down — Image caption,
An Ode to Yemaya, 2019

"Interrogating the position of the black body in visual culture and playing with tropes such as family portraiture, artifice and nature, [Lawson] takes the personal and makes it political," says Anne-Marie Beckmann, director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation.

Framed portrait of two women standing side by side — Image caption,
Emily and Daughter, 2015. Pictured on display at The Photographers' Gallery, London

Ms Lawson's Centropy exhibition was originally displayed at Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, in 2020.

Her work is on display at The Photographers' Gallery,, external alongside the other shortlisted artists - Anastasia Samoylova, Jo Ractliffe and Gilles Peress - until 12 June 2022.

Framed photo of a woman lying down with her arms crossed — Image caption,
Deleon? Unknown, 2020. Pictured on display at The Photographers' Gallery, London

Here is a selection of work by the three other shortlisted artists.

A woman with a dog standing outside a hairdressers — Image caption,
Barber Shop, Miami, 2018, from the series FloodZone

Black and white photo of a seated woman looking out from a tent decorated with posters — Image caption,
Video club, Roque Santeiro market, 2007, from the series Terreno Ocupado

Black and white composite photo of a large fire in a street, next to an image of a group of children in a street — Image caption,
Whatever You Say, Say Nothing: from the chapter, The Last Night

All pictures courtesy of the artists and subject to copyright. Deana Lawson images courtesy of the artist; Sikkema Jenkins & Co, New York; David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles.

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