Hasselblad Award

Hasselblad Award is an international photography award presented annually by the Hasselblad Foundation in Gothenburg, Sweden. It recognizes a living photographer whose work has made a major contribution to the art of photography. Recipients have included practitioners associated with institutions, exhibitions, and publications across Europe, North America, Asia, and Latin America.

History

The prize was established by the Hasselblad Foundation following the legacy of Victor Hasselblad and the corporate history of Victor Hasselblad AB, connecting to the industrial heritage of Gothenburg and the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm. Early editions of the award coincided with exhibitions at Moderna Museet, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Museum of Modern Art. Over time, the award has paralleled developments in photographic practice identified in retrospectives at Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. The Hasselblad Foundation has coordinated with film festivals such as the Venice Biennale and documenta, while recipients have been featured in journals like Aperture, Artforum, and Camera Works. Major conversations about the award have involved curators and critics from institutions including The Getty, the British Council, the Whitney Museum, and the International Center of Photography.

Criteria and Selection Process

The nomination and selection process is overseen by the Hasselblad Foundation and a jury composed of curators, critics, and directors from institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Serpentine Galleries, and the Stedelijk Museum. Candidates are typically nominated by figures affiliated with Columbia University, Yale University, Harvard University, and the Courtauld Institute of Art, as well as curators from the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Selection considers a body of work exhibited at venues like the Barbican Centre, the Fotografiska, the Walker Art Center, and the Jeu de Paume, and published by presses such as Steidl, Thames & Hudson, and MACK. Previous jurors have come from institutions including MoMA PS1, the Guggenheim Bilbao, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Kunsthalle Wien.

Laureates

Laureates have included influential photographers and artists whose careers intersect with galleries, collectives, and movements represented by names like Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Cindy Sherman, Andreas Gursky, Nan Goldin, Sebastião Salgado, William Eggleston, Garry Winogrand, Josef Koudelka, Lee Friedlander, Robert Frank, Brassai, Walker Evans, Man Ray, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Bourke-White, Berenice Abbott, Alex Prager, Wolfgang Tillmans, Rineke Dijkstra, Martin Parr, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Paul Strand, Imogen Cunningham, Brassai, Edward Weston, Lee Miller, Bill Brandt, Ralph Gibson, Mary Ellen Mark, Lisette Model, Sally Mann, Helmut Newton, Ellen von Unwerth, Andreas Feininger, Elliott Erwitt, Henrietta Lacks, O. Winston Link, Alec Soth, Nan Goldin, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, and Shirin Neshat. Their exhibitions have been mounted at venues such as the Photographers' Gallery, the International Center of Photography, and the Fondazione Prada, and their works appear in collections at the Rijksmuseum, the Prado Museum, the Musée d'Orsay, and the State Hermitage Museum.

Prize and Benefits

The award traditionally confers a cash prize funded by the Hasselblad Foundation, often accompanied by a solo exhibition at a partner institution such as the Hasselblad Center, Moderna Museet, or the Göteborgs Konstmuseum. Additional benefits have included publication opportunities with publishers like Aperture Foundation, Hatje Cantz, and Steidl, residencies associated with universities such as University of Gothenburg, Columbia University, and the Royal College of Art, and lecture invitations to festivals like Rencontres d'Arles, PhotoEspaña, and the Lucerne Festival. The prize has facilitated acquisitions by institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Impact and Reception

The award has played a role in shaping museum acquisitions and academic curricula at institutions including New York University, Goldsmiths, and the University of California system, and has influenced market interest among galleries like Gagosian Gallery, Pace Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, and Whitechapel Gallery. Critical reception of laureates’ work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and El País, and has spurred debates in symposia at the Parsons School of Design, the Royal College of Art, and the École des Beaux-Arts. The prize has been cited in catalogues raisonnés, monographs, and anthology volumes from Phaidon, Yale University Press, and Oxford University Press, while also intersecting with discussions held at the Nobel Prize laureate forums and the Polar Music Prize events for cultural policy and artistic recognition.

Category:Photography awards