Prix Pictet is proud to launch an interactive exhibition of Confinement.
In their own compelling images and words, 43 of the more than 90 past shortlisted Prix Pictet photographers give us their personal response to the Covid-19 crisis.
The project began with a series of inspiring commissions in partnership with The Guardian, before growing into a book, Confinement, published by teNeues earlier this year. This digital exhibition invites a closer look into each artist's response, with new unseen images, as they move beyond emerging clichés and point to a way forward.
In the next few weeks, Fiona Shields, The Guardian’s Head of Photography, will host the first guided tour of the exhibition online. Follow us on social media to keep updated about this event.
The purpose of the Prix Pictet, to quote Gro Harlem Brundtland at its launch in 2008, is ‘to ensure that matters of sustainability remain at the forefront of global debate, where they need to belong’. In the twelve years since, the two greatest threats to life on the planet – excess resource depletion and damaging climate change – have only intensified. The Prix Pictet has documented the growing sustainability crisis in images raw and beautiful from across the world.
In doing so it has become one of a handful of leading global prizes for any type or genre of photography. The smartphone revolution has made photography a medium of communication used and understood by all. It’s a medium that transcends language in its power to communicate, which magnifies the potential of the Prix Pictet to influence government, business and society throughout the world.
This Confinement project started life as a book, published in a year that will forever be imprinted in our memories as the year of the Covid-19 pandemic; of lockdown, of confinement – changing the way we work and live in what Peter Frankopan describes in his accompanying essay as ‘the largest social science experiment in history’. Some changes will be permanent, others will fade with time. Perhaps, in the brief interlude of clean city air and clear skies, we have learnt something about our impact on our planet. Nor should we forget that the year has also amplified economic inequalities within societies and between nations, with lasting effects.
Here, in their own compelling images and words, 43 of the more than 90 past shortlisted Prix Pictet photographers give us their personal response to the Covid-19 crisis.
Volunteers with the Nutley Volunteer Emergency and Rescue Squad, responding to a 92-year-old Indian man who suffers from diabetes and had lost consciousness, in Nutley, New Jersey on 15 April 2020. This force, established in 1954, is a mix of 20 employees and 55 volunteers, responding to every medical call, including Covid-19 emergencies. Since the start of the pandemic they approach every call as Covid-related. Many town residents have been donating protective equipment, covering the squad for now. ‘There is a fear. A fear of bringing this back home to our friends and family. A fear of getting exposed and sick. But we knew that we would have to be ready for anything when we signed up for this. This is a game changer for all of us, whether you’re getting paid or volunteering, but we’re still in it and we’re going to win. It’s the passion and personal belief of helping others that keeps us going. It’s a huge sacrifice that we make so we can serve others in this unsettling and unprecedented time.’ Jonathan Arredondo, President of the Volunteer Association.
An emotional moment during the protests in New York City over police violence and the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police last week. Thousands came out to march and fight for justice and the vast majority of protesters were peaceful and expressing their rights to free speech and assembly.