jury for photo of the year 2020

The members of the jury for Photo of the Year 2020 are:

LOUISE WOLTHERS (PhD in Art History) is head of research and curator at the Hasselblad Foundation, where she carries out research into the theory, history and contemporary practices of photography. She is in charge of research projects that produce publications and exhibitions, including WATCHED! Surveillance, Art and Photography (2015-2017) and Thresholds: Interwar Lens Cultures, together with partners at University of Gothenburg (2018-2021). She regularly publishes in scientific books and journals, including Journal of European Studies, Photography & Society and Photographies.

“Photography is easy. Photography is difficult” (Paul Graham). Mobile devices allow many of us easy access to picture making, but in order to understand the power of the image, question the meaning of visibility and explore different ways of seeing, we need practitioners who are devoted to photography: Architects, artists and photographers who study, work, experiment, fail and repeat. As we’re surrounded by and constantly contributing to an abundance of circulated imagery, it is as important as ever to be reminded of the complexities and magic of photography.” – Louise Wolthers.

HILARY SAMPLE is an American architect, educator, and author. She is the founder of MOS Architects and a Professor of Architecture at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

“Photography offers a way to capture the physical world with respect to architecture’s material permanence as well as the life around it. As an artistic form, it is possible to develop a creative attitude towards a projected reality as yet unknown or discovered.  Exploring beyond traditional tools of the discipline, we use photography of a physical scaled model to represent a made condition while simultaneously constructing a critique about the elements of society as they interface with the discipline of architecture.“ – Hilary Sample.

TORBEN NIELSEN (DK) architect, Rector at Aarhus School of Architecture since 2010, has a lifelong passion for architectural photography and has participated as judge in several competitions.

“To me, photography is a craft that captures memories – it preserves glimpses of the world that contain much more than what you see. For the photographer himself, each photograph contains a whole stream of memories about what preceded and what came after the moment the photo contains or describes. To the spectator of the photograph, it sets free thoughts that go far beyond what can be seen. It merges with your own world and flow of memories. And it expresses thoughts and feelings – but it can also describe objects and moments accurately and to the point. Close to something we might call reality – yet without being it. I am delighted that it was, once again, possible to arrange this competition for architecture students. Just like the drawing, the photograph is important to architects both as a tool for sketching and to describe and capture situations that matter to you or someone else – and it forms the basis of what we build and have built.” – Torben Nielsen.