14 December 2006

 

The winners of the Epson art photo award 2006 are from the University of Duisburg-Essen: A class from the Faculty of Art and Design studying communication design under the leadership of Prof. Jörg Sasse. The best individual artist of the Epson art photo award 2006 is Elmar Vestner, Parsons School of Design, New York.

More than 100 photo classes from 19 countries competed for first place in the Epson art photo award 2006.

An authoritative jury of professionals (Andreas Gursky, photographer; Rupert Pfab, gallery owner; Ingrid Rollema, Director of the Freie Akademie Den Haag; Tim Sommer, Editor-in-Chief art – Das Kunstmagazin; Thomas Weski, Senior Curator at Haus der Kunst in Munich) evaluated the several thousand submissions that were received for the Epson art photo award 2006.

The members of the jury noticed a further quality improvement in the standard of photography this year in comparison to the high standards already established with last year’s award. According to Andreas Gursky: “A very exciting element is the very different approaches with which this generation of photographers is working. The level this year is even higher than it was the first time around.”

“The students and works of the winning class of the Epson art photo award 2006 are convincing through their individual and unconventional positions in the art photography realm. The high-quality of the works by all participants from this group is striking.”

The University of Duisburg-Essen: Home of the winners

The integrated diploma curriculum is part of the Faculty for Art and Design at the University of Duisburg-Essen, once a part of the Folkwangschule for Design in Essen. “Space to jump into the void,” is how Jörg Sasse, professor responsible for the winning class, sees his teaching assignment. In this creative shelter, “his” students were given the opportunity “to originate their own visual point of view.” Very much in line with the Epson art photo award which offers support, motivation and attention to up-and-coming artists in the photographic arts.

The “Sasse class” specialized in genre documentary photography – also in their award-winning portfolios. The students’ projects reflected especially their “own visual viewpoint.” The goal of the training offered in Duisburg-Essen is to support the budding artists in their processes of self-discovery and, to begin with, to free them from art market-related assessment criteria.

The prize-winning class will receive a total of € 15,000 for their victory in the Epson art photo award 2006.

The best soloist: A storyteller from New York

The prize for the best individual artist among all group submissions goes this year to Elmar Vestner from New York for his work “Urban Fairytale.” His efforts will be rewarded with € 10,000. The jury was very enthusiastic about his particular use of photography as a narrative medium: “We like the way the images are used to tell a story. Here, individual images are less important than the sum of all the photos and their interaction. A masterful effort, full of poetry.”

More information at www.art-photo-award.de

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