Prix Pictet - Fire

The ninth cycle of the award takes the theme of Fire. As Sir David King, Chairman of the Prix Pictet Jury, says in his foreword to the accompanying book, ‘If ever there was a time for the Prix Pictet to take up the theme of Fire, that time is now. Last summer we were inundated with images of fire at its most frighteningly destructive... These were not the harbingers of a crisis; they are the thing itself. This is it. The fire, long foreseen, has finally arrived. It is as if the future has somehow slipped into the present while we have been busy looking elsewhere and discussing long-term solutions.’

Over 600 photographers were nominated for Fire by a global network of nominators. After a rich debate the jury arrived at a final shortlist of 13 artists. In December 2021, at an award ceremony held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Sally Mann was announced as the ninth Prix Pictet laureate. Mann was recognised for her Blackwater series (2008–12), a multifaceted exploration of the Great Dismal Swamp, which spans the border of Virginia and North Carolina. The swamp was long a treacherous refuge for people escaping slavery, and has since been devastated by wildfires.

As a group, the artists appearing in this cycle present fire as the most capricious of the elements - the bringer of life but also the author of terrifying destruction. Their work is a vision of what lies ahead: not only what has been but what is to come.

About The Award

Founded by the Pictet Group in 2008, the Prix Pictet is now in its ninth cycle (Fire). Each cycle of the award has a specific theme. The eight previous winners are Benoît Aquin (Water), Nadav Kander (Earth), Mitch Epstein (Growth), Luc Delahaye (Power), Michael Schmidt (Consumption), Valérie Belin (Disorder), Richard Mosse (Space) and Joana Choumali (Hope).

The Prix Pictet is an award of 100,000 Swiss francs 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 selected theme.

Each cycle of the Prix Pictet tours the world, exhibiting in over a dozen countries
annually, bringing the work of the shortlisted photographers to a wide international
audience. To date, the Prix Pictet has received over 4800 nominations and staged over 100 exhibitions in 44 cities. Some 710,000 people have visited Prix Pictet exhibitions.

Prix Pictet Fire will be on view at Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, from 30 September – 16 October 2022. Open everyday from 10AM-7PM. Free entrance

Banner Image Credit: Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige