Professional photographers are invited to submit their photographs to the prestigious Felix Schoeller Photo Award 2023. Those who are just starting their career can also enter the competition for the Best Work by an Emerging Photographer. In addition, the Felix Schoeller Group, together with the city of Osnabrück, awards the German Peace Prize for Photography. The award ceremony next spring coincides with the momentous anniversary of “375 years of the Peace of Westphalia.”
Whether in Ukraine, Iran or elsewhere in the world, recent events make it clear: peace is a fragile commodity that can come under threat at any time and in any place and is therefore particularly worthy of protection. Photography, as the most important visual medium, has an important task in these times: presenting powerful images of hope and peace.
For this reason, the Felix Schoeller Group and its hometown of Osnabrück have already joined forces to launch the German Peace Prize for Photography in 2019. Together, they encourage people to think about the many facets of peace and how it is represented in images.
It is no coincidence that this peace culture award is based in Osnabrück. The initiators created the prize out of the context of the city’s special history: Osnabrück is a city of peace. In 1648, the Peace Treaty of Osnabrück (Instrumentum Pacis Osnabrugensis, IPO) was proclaimed here. The signing of the Peace of Westphalia thus ended the Thirty Years’ War. It is a lesson in history on how peace can be achieved.
The City of Osnabrück and the Felix Schoeller Group see this historical context as a mandate for peace policy commitment. With the German Peace Prize for Photography, they want to provide a platform for the discourse on peace on a photographic level.
As 2023 marks the 375th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia, the German Peace Prize for Photography also takes on a special significance.
The German Peace Prize for Photography honors works that deal photographically and conceptually with the topic “peace.” The definition of the term “peace” is intended to be explicitly broad: From peace between peoples and countries to peaceful coexistence in the city and country, in families or in groups, to the pictorial representation of the inner peace of individual people.
The winner of the German Peace Prize for Photography will receive 10,000 Euros in prize money.
Focus on excellent photography
In addition to the German Peace Prize for Photography, professional photographers can also apply for the Felix Schoeller Photo Award 2023. They can choose from three categories: “Portrait,” “Photo Journalism” and “Sustainability.” Winners in each of the competition categories will be awarded 5,000 Euros.
The Young Talent Award is aimed at photographers who are studying, undergoing vocational training or assisting in photography. Young talents can express themselves creatively, as there are no thematic restrictions. The best work in this category will be rewarded by the jury with the Young Talent Award, also worth 5,000 Euros.
Submission stage of the competition is underway
Interested photographers can submit their photographs until January 15, 2023. Subsequently, the works of all competition categories will be evaluated by an independent jury. As in previous years, the jury will be chaired by Michael Dannenmann, and will also include art historian and curator Cathérine Hug from the Kunsthaus Zürich, Director of the Museumsquartier Osnabrück Nils-Arne Kässens, Art Advisor Simone Klein, and Hannah Schuh, Visual Director of the art magazine ART.
For the German Peace Prize for Photography, the jury will be expanded with Ulrich Schneckener, Professor of International Relations & Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Osnabrück. The winners will be announced and honored at a festive award ceremony on May 4, 2023. The winning photographs as well as the works of the nominees will subsequently be on display in an extensive exhibition at the Museumsquartier Osnabrück.
Visit https://www.felix-schoeller-photoaward.com/en/home for more information.
