Deutsche Börse photography prize names its four finalists
Hoda Afshar, Lotus L. Kang, Sasha Kurmaz and Salvatore Vitale are the finalists for the 2027 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. Their nominated work stretches from photographic archives to changing film installations and a wartime diary. The artists will exhibit together in London before the 30,000 pounds winner is announced on 29 April.
Arts··Evening
Four artists compete for the 2027 award
The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, an annual award recognising an exhibition or publication in Europe, has shortlisted Hoda Afshar, Lotus L. Kang, Sasha Kurmaz and Salvatore Vitale for 2027. The nominations cover work ranging from archival photographs to film installations and a visual diary.[1], [2]
The qualifying work must have made its contribution during the preceding 12 months. A 30,000 pounds prize goes to the winner, while each of the three other finalists receives 5,000 pounds. The London announcement is scheduled for 29 April 2027.[1]
Archives and changing film shape two nominations
Afshar was nominated for Performing the Invisible at the Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac, a Paris museum. Its central work The Fold revisits Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault’s photographic archive from Morocco through images, mirrors, video and sound. Kang’s The face of desire is loss, shown at the Venice Biennale’s Bulgari pavilion in Italy, combines photography, film and sculpture. Unfixed strips of film react to light and moisture beside tatami sculptures and cast objects.[1]
War and digital labour join the touring exhibition
Kurmaz’s Red Horse, published by Éditions Images Vevey in November 2025, is an 800-page diary combining photographs, notes, drawings and found material from the war in Ukraine. Vitale’s SABOTAGE at Photo Elysée, the photography museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, examines hidden digital labour through work with South African freelancers. The finalists exhibit at London’s Photographers’ Gallery from 10 March to 6 June 2027, then in Eschborn/Frankfurt, Germany, from 19 June to 26 September 2027.[1]
