Prix Pictet: Consumption
Group Exhibition
Consumption lies at the heart of the greatest challenge facing humankind today: the issue of environmental sustainability. It is a multi-faceted theme that is rich with creative potential. We are all consumers. We have invented new forms of building, industrial production, farming and energy; we have emptied the seas and ravaged the land in our relentless drive to satisfy our unquenchable desires. We have built vast empires based on luxury goods, creating demand for essentials that we didn’t know we needed. We have sustained this through the sometimes thoughtless exploitation of the world’s poorest people.
The exhibition features the work of the eleven shortlisted photographers: Adam Bartos (United States), Motoyuki Daifu (Japan), Rineke Dijkstra (Netherlands), Hong Hao (China), Mishka Henner (Belgium),Juan Fernando Herrán (Colombia), Boris Mikhailov (Ukraine), Abraham Oghobase (Nigeria), Michael Schmidt (German), Allan Sekula (United States) and Laurie Simmons (United States). German photographer Michael Schmidt was named as the fifth laureate of the Prix Pictet for his series Lebensmittel. Three days after the announcement was made Michael Schmidt sadly passed away aged 68. Allan Sekula died August 10, 2013.
The Prix Pictet: Consumption exhibition at the Gallery of Photography Ireland
Consumption lies at the heart of the greatest challenge facing humankind today: the issue of environmental sustainability. It is a multi-faceted theme that is rich with creative potential. We are all consumers. We have invented new forms of building, industrial production, farming and energy; we have emptied the seas and ravaged the land in our relentless drive to satisfy our unquenchable desires. We have built vast empires based on luxury goods, creating demand for essentials that we didn’t know we needed. We have sustained this through the sometimes thoughtless exploitation of the world’s poorest people.
Michael Benson, Director, Prix Pictet and Amanda Wilkinson, the co-director of the Wilkinson Gallery, and gallerist for artist Laurie Simmons discussed the Prix Pictet Prize as part of the launch of the exhibition here in the Gallery of Photography.
This will be the fourth occasion the Prix Pictet has visited Dublin. Founded by the Pictet Group in 2008, the Prix Pictet has rapidly established itself as the world’s leading prize in photography and sustainability. The award aims to uncover outstanding photography applied to confront the most pressing social and environmental challenges of today.
The Prix Pictet, launched in 2008, is the world’s leading prize in photography and sustainability and has as its mission a search for outstanding photographic series that communicate messages of global environmental significance.
For more info visit their website here.
Exhibition dates
4th April – 10th May 2015
Gallery information
Opening hours
Open 6 days:
Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 5pm
Open Mondays by appointment for ongoing education, artists archiving and training.
Closed Sundays
Closed for bank holidays and public holidays
Admission is free
Find us
Gallery of Photography Ireland
Meeting House Square,
Temple Bar,
Dublin D02 X406, Ireland