Hasta La Ideas

Berlin-based photographer Michael Schmidt is the winner of the third Prix Pictet. Sponsored by Swiss bank Pictet & Cie and with a purse of 100,000 Swiss francs (approximately $112,000, at current exchange), the entry-by-nomination international photography competition seeks to promote sustainability. This year’s theme was “Consumption.” Schmidt’s monumental “Lebensmittel” (food stuff) project, made between 2006 and 2010, was chosen by a jury that included Whitney curator Elisabeth Sussman and photographer Luc Delahaye, who won the Prix Pictet in 2012.

“There were many potential winners but, after much debate, we finally agreed to award the Prix Pictet to Michael Schmidt whose ‘Lebensmittel‘ is an epic and hugely topical investigation into the ways in which we feed ourselves,” said jury chair Sir David King yesterday evening at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, where Kofi Annan was on hand to announce the winner. Schmidt, 68, was not present due to severe illness. The twelve photographers shortlisted for the Prix Pictet included Rineke Dijkstra, Boris Mikhailov, Allan Sekula (who passed away last August at the age of 62), and Laurie Simmons. An exhibition of work shortlisted for Prix Pictet is on view through June 14 at the V&A.

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