Trevor Paglen has been announced as the winner of the £30,000 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2016. The Prize is awarded to a photographer of any nationality for a significant contribution to the medium of photography, either through an exhibition or publication, in Europe between 1 October 2014 and 30 September 2015.
Paglen was awarded the prize for his exhibition The Octopus at Frankfurter Kunstverein last year. His work covers complex topics including mass surveillance, data collection, classified satellite and drone activities and the systems of power connected to them. Paglen’s prize-winning installation comprised images of restricted military and government areas, skylines showing the flight tracks of passing drones, sculptural elements and research assembled in collaboration with scientist, amateur astronomers and human rights activists. Through his work Paglen aims to demonstrate that secrets cannot be hidden from view, but that their traces and structures are visible evidence in the landscape.
2 June 2016
