PRIX ELYSÉE 2017

Winner

Matthias Bruggmann

For his project A haunted world where it never shows

"Formally, my previous work put viewers in a position where they were asked to decide the nature of the work itself. A scientifically questionable analogy of this mechanism would be the observer effect in quantum physics, where the act of observing changes the nature of what is being observed. My Syrian work builds on this framework.

From a documentation perspective, it is, thus far and to the best of my knowledge, unique as the work, inside Syria, of a single Western photographer, in large part thanks to the assistance and hard work of some of the best independent experts on the conflict. Because of the nature of this conflict, I believe it is necessary to expand the geographical scope of the work."

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Nominees

Jury

The jury of the Prix Elysée is composed of 7 members: four international experts from the fields of photography and publishing and 3 representatives of the Prix Elysée founding partners.

The voting jury members of the second Prix Elysée (2017) are:

Experts

  • Mimi Chun, Founder and Director, Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong
  • Salvador Nadales, Curator of Collections Department and Head of Institutional Relations, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid
  • Andrew Sanigar, Commissioning Editor, Thames & Hudson, London
  • Astrid Ullens de Schooten, Founder and President, Fondation A. Stichting, Bruxelles

Founding partners

  • Tatyana Franck, Director, Photo Elysée, Lausanne
  • Michel Parmigiani, Founder, Parmigiani Fleurier, Fleurier
  • Marina Vatchnadze, Sandoz Family Foundation, Manager of the cultural patronage

The Nominees' Book 2017

Published by Photo Elysée in partnership with Editions Photosynthèses in Arles, this book presents the projects of the eight nominees of the second edition of the Prix Elysée. Isabelle Blanc & Olivier Hilaire, Elina Brotherus, Matthias Bruggmann, David Jiménez, Sofie Knijff, Jim Naughten, Emeka ...
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Matthias Bruggmann

If the tens of thousands of pictures of torture taken by Syrian photographers do not attract the attention of a Western audience, what can a foreigner who doesn’t even speak Arabic hope to accomplish? The photographs of Matthias Bruggmann take a critical look at the representation of the atrocities ...
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