Deutsche Börse Photography Prize shortlist 2015

The four artists shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2015 are Nikolai Bakharev, Zanele Muholi, Viviane Sassen and Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse.

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 is felt to have significantly contributed to photography in Europe between 1 October 1 2013 and September 30 2014.

Nikolai Bakharev (b. 1946, Russia) has been shortisted for his exhibition at the 55th Biennale of Art in Venice. Bakharev trained as a mechanic before working as a Communal Services Factory photographer in the 1960s. His portraits of bathers on Russian public beaches were predominantly taken during the 1980s when the taking and circulation of photographs containing nudity was strictly forbidden.

Untitled #70, from the series Relation (Nikolai Bakharev)

Zanele Muholi (b. 1972, South Africa) has been shortlisted for her publication Faces and Phases 2006 – 2014 (Steidl, 2014). Describing herself as a "visual activist", Muholi’s black and white portraits offer an insight into black LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Transexual and Intersexed) politics in post-apartheid South Africa. Her often conceptual images and accompanying first-person testimonies reflect the impact of homophobia, discrimination and violence, most notably the "curative rape" of black gay women, which often results in murder.

_{Kekeletso Khena Green Market Square Cape Town 2012 (Zanele Muholi)}

Viviane Sassen (b. 1972, Netherlands) is shortlisted for her exhibition Umbra at Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam (March 8 – June 1 2014). The show includes abstract photography, drawings and light installations and is accompanied by specially commissioned poems from artist and poet, Maria Barnas. Sassen's signature approach employs vivid colour alongside stark contrasts of light and shade in sculptural compositions. Umbra is Latin for shadow, and the Jungian notion of the "shadow self" underpins the work, tapping into personal fear, desire and shame as well as more abstract concepts such as the unknown, time and death.

_{Axiom (Viviane Sassen)}

Mikhael Subotzky (b. 1981, South Africa) and Patrick Waterhouse (b. 1981, UK) are shortlisted for their publication Ponte City (Steidl, 2014). The 54-floor apartment block in Johannesburg was built in 1976 for white ‘sophisticates’ under the apartheid regime. During the political transition in the 1980s and 90s, it became a refuge for black newcomers to the city and immigrants from all over Africa. Soon, decline and neglect led to it becoming the prime symbol of urban decay in the city and the epicentre of crime, prostitution and drug dealing. Subotzky and Waterhouse began their project in 2007 working with the remaining residents. They have created an intimate and deeply evocative social portrait of a culture, building and its community of residents through photographs, architectural plans, and other archival and historical material. Seventeen booklets containing essays and personal stories complete the narrative of this Johannesburg landmark.

Ponte City from Yeoville Ridge, 2008 (Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse)

This year's jury was Chris Boot, Executive Director, Aperture Foundation; Rineke Dijkstra, Artist; Peter Gorschlüter, Deputy Director, MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst and Anne Marie Beckmann, Curator, Art Collection Deutsche Börse.

Works by the shortlisted photographers will be exhibited at The Photographers’ Gallery from 17 April until 7 June 2015 and subsequently presented at the MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst (Museum of Modern Art) in Frankfurt during the RAY 2015 Fotografieprojekte Frankfurt / RheinMain (June 20 – September 20 2015). The winner will be announced at a special award ceremony held at The Photographers’ Gallery on May 28 2015.