Käthe Kollwitz Prize 2024 goes to photographer
Cologne-based photographer Candida Höfer has been awarded the Käthe Kollwitz Prize of the Academy of Arts for 2024. The award ceremony for the 12,000 euro prize and an associated exhibition are planned for next September, as the Academy announced in Berlin on Thursday.
Höfer's oeuvre, which has grown over five decades, is part of the contemporary photographic avant-garde, the statement continued. Her large-format photographs show public and semi-public spaces in prominent historical libraries, museums and opera houses. "Candida Höfer lends the spaces a great, almost spiritual quality through her precision of framing and detailed information, which is reinforced by the presence of the absent people," said jury member Karin Sander according to the press release.
The photographer was born in Eberswalde (Brandenburg) in 1944. In 2002, Höfer exhibited at the documenta world art exhibition, and a year later she represented Germany at the 50th Venice Biennale. Her works can reportedly be seen in many collections in Germany and abroad - for example in the Museum of Photography in Berlin.
The Käthe Kollwitz Prize has been awarded annually to visual artists since 1960. The most recent winners were Sandra Vásquez de la Horra (2023), Nan Goldin (2022), Maria Eichhorn (2021) and Timm Ulrichs (2020).
The recognition of Candida Höfer's photographic art continues with her winning several awards, such as representing Germany at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. The prices for her captivating photography of public and semi-public spaces range from being exhibited in renowned institutions like the Museum of Photography in Berlin, to earning awards like the Käthe Kollwitz Prize. Her unique approach to photography, characterized by its precision and details, has also earned her recognition as part of the contemporary photographic avant-garde in the art world.
Source: www.dpa.com
