Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2012 - The shortlist

Pieter Hugo. Yakubu Al Hasan, Agbogbloshie Market, Accra, Ghana 2009 © Pieter Hugo. Courtesy of Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town and Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

The four photographers shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2012 are Pieter Hugo, Rinko Kawauchi, John Stezaker and Christopher Williams.
This selection showcases diverse approaches to photography, from portraits taken in the toxic waste dumps of Ghana, to exquisite images of everyday moments and the conceptual use of found imagery. The photographers have been nominated for the following projects:

Pieter Hugo (b.1976, South-Africa) for his publication Permanent Error, published by Prestel (Germany, 2011).

Rinko Kawauchi (b.1972, Japan) for her publication Illuminance, published by Kehrer (Germany, 2011).

John Stezaker (b.1949, UK) for his exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (29 January – 18 March 2011).

Christopher Williams (b. 1956, USA) for his exhibition Kapitalistischer Realismus at Dům umění České Budějovice, Budweis, Czech Republic (5 May - 12 June 2011).

The annual award of £30,000 rewards a living photographer, of any nationality, for a specific body of work in an exhibition or publication format, which has significantly contributed to the medium of photography in Europe between 1 October 2010 and 30 September 2011. Previous winners include amongst others Jim Goldberg, Sophie Ristelhueber, Paul Graham, Joel Sternfeld, Juergen Teller, Rineke Dijkstra and Andreas Gursky.

The members of this year's Jury are: François Hébel, Director, Les Rencontres d'Arles; Martin Parr, photographer; Beatrix Ruf, Director/Curator, Kunsthalle Zürich and Anne-Marie Beckmann, Curator, Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Germany. Brett Rogers, Director of The Photographers’ Gallery, is the non-voting Chair.

Rinko Kawauchi. Untitled, from the series Illuminance