The Photographers' Gallery
17th February 2010
Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 2010
The Deutsche Börse Photography Prize rewards a living photographer, of any nationality, who has made the most significant contribution, in exhibition or publication format, to the medium of photography over the previous year.'
I went to the photographers gallery to see the work of the four finalists; Zoe Leonard, Anna Fox, Sophie Ristelheuber and Donovan Wylie. I found looking at the work really interesting, i decided to look through the whole exhibition without reading any of the accompanying explanation/ commentary, so as to interpret the photographs as they are, with no preconceptions or expectations. And it was really refreshing. They were depressing, impending, bizarre, and very different from artist to artist. All seemed to demand attention and evoke a strong feeling. After having read the accompanying notes about the photographers and their chosen subject matter, i just felt the same reactions in a more comprehensible context.
The photographs which had the most dramatic effect, for me, were by Donovan Wylie. He exhibited a series of photographs of the Maze prison, which once housed both loyalist and republican prisoners in Ireland. I think he really conveyed a sense of weight with the photographs, I felt that the series was photographed in reflection to his own personal experience of the building and feelings about the building. There was a wall display of clippings and artefacts from a scrap book on the opposite wall to the photographs, which visually gave the exhibition more context and a vague explanation. It was clear from the scrap book clippings what the show was about, but the photographs had an eery mystery about them. I can clearly picture now the strong lines and use of perspective to direct the viewer to through the photograph, there was something very blunt about the images.
(http://blog.magnumphotos.com/images/wylie_LON83745_Comp.jpg)
