Four artists shortlisted for the 2026 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize

Four artists exploring truth, memory, identity and social justice have been shortlisted for the 2026 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.

Announced by The Photographers’ Gallery in London, the nominees are Jane Evelyn Atwood, Weronika Gęsicka, Amak Mahmoodian and Rene Matić.

Now in its 30th year, the £30,000 (€34,000) prize recognises a photographer or artist who has made a “significant contribution to photography” through a recent exhibition or publication.

“This year's shortlist is a powerful testament to photography's enduring ability to explore our shared social and societal circumstances,” said Anne-Marie Beckmann, the director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation.

“It celebrates photography’s versatility and capacity to not only document the world but to challenge our perceptions of it, giving significance to issues and communities that are often overlooked.”

An exhibition will open at The Photographers’ Gallery, London, from 6 March to 7 June 2026, showcasing the shortlisted works, before travelling to the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation in Eschborn/Frankfurt from 3 September 2026 to 17 January 2027.

The overall winner will be announced on 14 May 2026. Below are a selection of images from the four shortlisted artists.

Amak Mahmoodian - One Hundred and Twenty Minutes

Drawing on photography, poetry and film, Mahmoodian’s One Hundred and Twenty Minutes transforms dreams into shared narratives of exile and belonging. Working with collaborators from 14 countries and drawing from her own personal experiences, she explores how displacement shapes memory and imagination.

The title refers to the amount of time humans dream each night - a poetic metaphor for the fragile border between the real and the imagined.

Jane Evelyn Atwood - Too Much Time / Trop de Peines

Atwood’s deeply humanist project returns to her decade-long documentation of women in prisons across nine countries during the 1990s.

Her black-and-white images capture the stark inequalities faced by female inmates - from lack of access to hygiene to limited healthcare - revealing both systemic neglect and moments of quiet resilience.

Weronika Gęsicka - Encyclopaedia

Gęsicka’s Encyclopaedia delves into the world of “trap entries” - fake words or facts intentionally added to reference books.

By visually reinterpreting these through AI-generated imagery and manipulated stock photos, she explores the instability of truth in the digital age. Her playful yet unsettling project asks: how do we navigate a world where fact and fiction increasingly blur?

Rene Matić - AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH

Through photography, installation and sound, Matić’s work captures the texture of contemporary British life - exploring themes of identity, class, family and subculture.

Their practice, which they describe as existing within “rude(ness),” honours the in-between spaces of identity and belonging.

The overall winner will be announced on 14 May 2026.