The four international award winners impressively demonstrate the visual power of photography. The German Peace Prize for Photography goes to Germany and Ukraine
This year's winners of the Felix Schoeller Photo Award were announced at a ceremony in Osnabrück on 4 May. Alain Schroeder (Belgium) won in the "Photojournalism" category with his work "Muay Thai Kids", the "Sustainability" prize went to the Italian photographer Simone Tramonte for his series "New ways to the future" and the popular prize in the "Portrait" category went to Damian Lemanski (Poland) for his photographs of the "Kids of Lunik IX". All three winners will receive 5,000 Euro each. Lisa Marie Asubonteng (Germany) won the "Young Photographers" category with her series "The Holy Women" and will receive 5,000 Euro. The German Peace Prize for Photography, worth 10,000 Euro, goes to Sebastian Wells (Germany) and Vsevolod Kazarin (Ukraine) for their joint project "Young people photographed in Kyiv 2022".
"We connect our passion for the printed image with the Felix Schoeller Photo Award. We feel that our commitment is a social and cultural responsibility, but also a matter of the heart," says Hans-Christoph Gallenkamp, CEO of Felix Schoeller. "Once again we have seen impressive entries of a high artistic standard. We would like to thank all the photographers for their great work.“
Jury chairman Michael Dannenmann sums up the position of the Felix Schoeller Photo Award in the international context of photography: "After ten years, the Felix Schoeller Photo Award has long since arrived in the global photography community. The approximately 2,000 entries from 98 countries show us once again that the photographs in all categories of this competition are of a very high standard. The wonderful wealth of exciting and substantial impressions that these works show us testifies to the great passion of the image-makers for the medium of photography". In addition to Michael Dannenmann, the jury includes art historian and curator Cathérine Hug from the Kunsthaus Zürich, director of the Museumsquartier Osnabrück Nils-Arne Kässens, art advisor Simone Klein and visual director of the art magazine ART Hannah Schuh. For the German Peace Prize for Photography, the jury was extended to include Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schneckener, Professor of International Relations & Peace and Conflict Research at the University of Osnabrück.
The award-winning works of the winners and all nominees will be on show at the Museumsquartier in Osnabrück from 5 May to 6 August 2023.
Photojournalism: Alain Schroeder, Belgium
Title: Muay Thai Kids
Alain Schroeder's photographs show children in Muay Thai training camps in Thailand, where this traditional martial art is taught. From the age of six, the children compete to earn extra money for their families. The pressure on the children is palpable. Few become champions, but for poor children with limited opportunities, Muay Thai is a way to fulfil the cultural expectation of helping their families and having a chance at a better life.
Michael Dannenmann: "With his impressive photojournalistic work "Muay Thai Kids", Alain Schroeder takes us into a world of boxing that is completely foreign to us in the western world. His pictures of children who hope to find a way to a better future through this martial art make us pensive, angry and touching at the same time". Hannah Schuh: "Like lightning rods, Alain Schroeder's photographs capture the tension before and during the fights. The pressure, desperation and exhaustion the children are exposed to in competitive sport is made abundantly clear. Just looking at them hurts". Simone Klein adds: "With this series we have awarded a prize to a truly visually stunning reportage. The black and white photographs are unsentimental and in their dynamism and immediacy make the pain, but also the unconditional will of the children, mercilessly clear".
Sustainability: Simone Tramonte, Italy
Title: New ways to the future
The importance of innovative technologies for tomorrow's future is the theme of Italian photographer Simone Tramonte. Renewable energy, new technologies for food production and the circular economy are key to achieving the goals of the Green Deal. These innovative technologies point the way to climate neutrality and inspire a new, sustainable life cycle.
Simone Klein: "We were particularly impressed by the important theme of green technologies (developed in Europe) to reduce CO2 emissions and their translation into images reminiscent of science fiction. They convey the hope that innovative technologies will help save our planet".
Nils-Arne Kässens: "The cool aesthetics of techno zones meet the organic growth of plants: Nature and technology must be brought together in a symbiotic relationship to meet the challenges of climate change. This insight is immediately apparent when looking at Simone Tramonte's photographs". Michael Dannenmann adds: "Photographer Simone Tramonte has packaged his message in an artistic and formal photography. His impressive and precise imagery not only takes us into the future, but also formulates another cry for help to save our earth".
Portrait: Damian Lemanski, Poland
Title: Children of Lunik IX
Damian Lemanski's series of photographs shows children and young people living in Lunik IX - a district of Kosice, the largest city in eastern Slovakia, inhabited almost exclusively by Roma. Among the few residents, more than a thousand children live in miserable conditions, crammed into twenty square metres. The Roma are by far the longest discriminated minority in the EU. Eighty percent of Roma in the EU still live below the poverty line.
Michael Dannenmann: "These touching black and white portraits are convincing because of their immediacy and the personal trust that photographer Damian Lemański must have built up during his work. In the harsh reality in which these children and young people live, fear of the future and hopelessness do not (yet) seem to exist. Damian Lemański manages to convey to us, through these close-ups of Roma children, the dilemma of a minority that is still discriminated against". Hannah Schuh: "Damian Lemański captures moments of interaction and is present as a photographer. This kind of work requires a lot of trust. Lemański's visual language is timeless. Only details remind us that this is an oppressive present". Simone Klein: "These haunting, excellently composed images testify to hope, community and a certain unconcern for the future."
Best work by an emerging photographer: Lisa Marie Asubonteng, Germany
Title: The holy women
The work "The holy women" is a series of portraits dealing with the issue of violence against women and girls in Ghana. Sexual and physical violence is still a taboo subject in Ghana. Lisa Marie Asubonteng is a Ghanaian-German photographer based in Berlin. Her work focuses on portraying the faces of the underrepresented, combined with unique emotions in fashion. The themes of identity and tradition are central to her work.
Hannah Schuh: "The clear portraits create a direct connection, the women stand firmly on the ground. Their gaze is serious, no one is smiling, no one is posing. They are strong women who have experienced rape and sexual violence. Lisa Marie Asubonteng convinced them to show themselves. The women bravely face the viewer. They do not look like victims, they are survivors. The series goes straight to the heart, as does the realisation that this kind of violence can happen to anyone. Simone Klein: "We were particularly impressed by the way such a cruel, unjust and unfortunately still current issue as the rape and abuse of young women and girls in Ghana is portrayed in such vivid, personal portraits." Nils-Arne Kässens: "In contrast to the cruelty inflicted on the girls and women, the images are quite still and therefore very haunting. The silent gazes of the subjects are a screaming indictment of sexual violence".
German Peace Prize for Photography: Sebastian Wells, Germany and Vsevolod Kazarin, Ukraine
Title: Young people photographed in Kyiv 2022
The "German Peace Prize for Photography" is a joint initiative of the international specialty paper manufacturer Felix Schoeller and the City of Peace Osnabrück. It comes with prize money of 10,000 Euro. This year the award goes to the German photographer Sebastian Wells and his Ukrainian project partner Vsevolod Kazarin. With their recent work on young people in Kiev, the two photographers set a powerful and hopeful example in the midst of the war in Ukraine: Young people defy the war and present themselves with admirable individual strength and courage. The images are not just stylistic reportage, but testimony to a historical moment: in the midst of war and violence, this photographic art project shows the power of the medium of photography as a fundamental form of resistance against tyranny, war and oppression. Michael Dannenmann, Chairman of the Jury: "The German Peace Prize for Photography has a very important function in today's world and fulfils it with aplomb".
The exhibition of all winners and nominees will be on show at the Museumsquartier in Osnabrück from 5 May to 6 August 2023.
All works were printed on high-quality digital printing paper from Felix Schoeller's CAPTURE X fine art paper brand.
___________________________________________________________________
We will be happy to provide you with image files of the nominees' and winners' work for publications in connection with this press release or information about the Felix Schoeller Photo Award!
To do so, please send your request by e-mail to:
apartmann@felix-schoeller.com
Further information: www.felix-schoeller-photoaward.com
André Partmann
Corporate Communications Manager
Felix Schoeller Holding GmbH & Co. KG | Burg Gretesch 1 | 49086 Osnabrück
APartmann@felix-schoeller.com
+49 (0)541 3800- 200
