One of the biggest prizes in photography has been given to Alfredo Jaar. The Chilean-born politically-minded artist, architect and filmmaker is to be crowned the 40th winner of the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography at an award ceremony in Gothenburg, Sweden, in October. As well as the 1 million Swedish kroner (£81,280) prize fund, Jaar receives an exhibition at the Hasselblad Center. Past winners include Daido Moriyama, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Robert Frank, Susan Meiselas, William Klein and Henri Cartier-Bresson.The foundation issued this explanation:
‘Alfredo Jaar explores complex socio-political issues, bringing to the fore the ethics of representation. Through quiet and meditative works, Jaar confronts issues of great magnitude, bearing witness to humanitarian disasters and attesting to the impact of military conflict, political corruption and economic inequality throughout the world. His photographs, films, elaborate installations and community-based projects provocatively disturb common perceptions of reality. At the heart of his practice is what Jaar refers to as the politics of images, questioning the way we use and consume images, while pointing to the limitations of photography and the media to represent significant events.’
10 March 2020
