The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, established in 1996, celebrates exhibitions and publications that have made “a significant contribution to photography in the past 12 months.” It’s a major moment in the cultural calendar, and, over the years, has spotlighted seminal names such as Arthur Jafa, Deana Lawson, Lorna Simpson, Richard Mosse and Susan Meiselas. The winning artist, to be announced on 14 May, will receive £30,000, with each of the shortlistees taking away £5,000. They will be selected by a jury comprising representatives from Autograph ABP, Foto Colectania Foundation, Magnum Photos and The Photographers’ Gallery. The 2026 shortlist – Amak Mahmoodian, Jane Evelyn Atwood, Rene Matić and Weronika Gęsicka – demonstrates the wide-reaching nature of photography today, from collaborative projects to long-term investigative documentary, installation, video and sound. Moreover, their projects navigate pressing themes: exile and memory; gender inequalities and advocacy; identity and belonging, subculture and class in contemporary life; and the shifting boundaries between photographic fact and fiction. Learn more about the creatives selected for 2026’s award here:
Rene Matić
Rene Matić (b. 1997) has been selected for the exhibition AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH, which was at CCA Berlin from November 2024 to February 2025. Matić’s practice spans photography, film and sculpture, and the Berlin show was a culmination of these approaches. It combined diaristic, snapshot-like photography alongside collected objects, film and sound. Together, these elements formed a vivid and layered portrait of contemporary life – rooted in identity and belonging, subculture, class and family. In a climate of rising right-wing populism and performative compassion, Matić turns to interpersonal relationships as spaces of resistance and care. For them, “intimacy, vulnerability and desire become tools for survival.”
Amak Mahmoodian
Amak Mahmoodian (b. 1980) is recognised for the exhibition One Hundred and Twenty Minutes, which explores “emotional and psychological landscapes in exile.” Mahmoodian began her career in Iran and has been based in the UK since 2010, unable to return to her homeland. For her, dreams offer a vital connection to a lost home and family. Over six years, Mahmoodian worked closely with sixteen individuals from fourteen countries. Their long-term conversations focused on recurring dreams and the effects of exile on memory and identity. The resulting show, part of the Bristol Photo Festival in 2024, spanned photography, poetry, text, drawing and video, giving visual and poetic form to her collaborators’ thoughts.
Jane Evelyn Atwood
Jane Evelyn Atwood (b. 1947) is shortlisted for the publication Too Much Time, which is a vital visual record of 10 years in the lives of incarcerated women. The series spans forty prisons across nine counties, and documents the experiences of female inmates: limited access to hygienic facilities, a lack of gynaecological and mental health care and stark inequalities compared to their male counterparts. The book was made during the 1990s and originally published in 2000. Since then, Atwood’s message has only become more urgent; globally, the female prison population has grown by 50-60%. The series is testament to Atwood’s long-term commitment, empathy and unwavering advocacy for social justice and women in prison.
Weronika Gęsicka
In her shortlisted project, Encyclopaedia, Weronika Gęsicka (b. 1984) draws attention to a little-known phenomenon: fake entries – otherwise known as “mountweazels” – that are deliberately inserted into dictionaries and lexicons to catch copyright violations and plagiarism. Gęsicka presents several hundred of these fabricated definitions, sourced from historical publications and accompanied by manipulated stock photos and AI-generated imagery. It’s all about the tension between truth and invention, and the erosion of trust in sources once considered authoritative. Encyclopaedia is a playful, humorous yet strikingly prescient series, published at a time when misleading AI content, misinformation and manipulation are rife.
The exhibition of selected work from the four artists’ shortlisted projects will be at The Photographers’ Gallery, London, from 6 March to 7 June 2026. It will then be on display from 3 September 2026 to 17 January 2027 at the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation in Eschborn/Frankfurt.
deutscheboersephotographyfoundation.org | thephotographersgallery.org.uk
Words: Eleanor Sutherland
Image Credits:
1. Jane Evelyn Atwood, Prisoner in the prison workshop, Centre Pénitentiaire Les Baumettes, Marseille, France, 1991 © Jane Evelyn Atwood.
2. Rene Matić, Self Portrait with Mohawk, 2024 © Rene Matić. Courtesy of the Artist and Arcadia Missa, London.
3. Amak Mahmoodian, One Hundred and Twenty Minutes, 2019-2024. Courtesy of the artist
4. Jane Evelyn Atwood, Visiting rights for a married couple jailed for stealing a painting from a museum. Maison d’arret de Femmes de Dijon, France, 1991 © Jane Evelyn Atwood.
5. Weronika Gęsicka, Argusto Emfazie, from the ‘Encyclopaedia’ series, 2023-2025. Courtesy of the artist and Jednostka Gallery.
