Guyana-born and England-raised photographer Ingrid Pollard is this year’s Hasselblad Award Recipient. Pollard, an internationally acclaimed photographer, receives a Hasselblad flagship camera and lenses, a unique gold medal, and SEK 2,000,000 — over $196,000.

Pollard was born in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1953 and grew up in London, England. Her work on colonialism and race was first exhibited in 1984 in London, and the photographer’s debut solo exhibition was just a few years later in 1988. Alongside dozens of exhibitions, her work is featured in collections at museums around the world, and the artist has received many awards and commissions in the last 30-plus years.

Her work explores the impact of race and colonial power structures on modern life, including urban spaces and landscapes. Throughout Pollard’s career, she has also explored the historical use of photography to exercise control and power over subjugated people and cultures.

During her early career in the 1980s, Pollard worked at the Lenthall Road Workshop in East London. In addition to offering photography and screen-printing courses, this organization was heavily involved in political activism, including feminist, anti-racist, and gay rights causes. It was an important and powerful space for marginalized people in the area. Further, the experimental and creative approach to photography Pollard learned at Lenthall Road carried through to the rest of her career.

Among Pollard’s many notable works is her 1987 series Pastoral Interlude, which featured hand-tinted photographs of Black people in the English countryside. The idyllic scenes were presented alongside poetic text describing overlooked aspects of the British Empire and its colonial history.

Another series, Seaside in 1989, used self-portraiture and texts to explore the relationship between racism and migration. By combining her personal story as a Guyanese-born immigrant, the location of the 1066 Norman Invasion, and contemporary discussions on the controversial Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was in office from 1979 until 1990, Pollard considered how people talk about immigrants using violent and racist rhetoric.

Similar themes have persisted throughout Pollard’s career. She has also consistently explored the concept of power through photographs of people and places touched by British colonialism. Through her work, Pollard aims to highlight and showcase stories of the Black experience that have long been related to historical footnotes.

“Receiving the Hasselblad Award is a great honor,” says Pollard. “It comes at a point in my life when I’m quite mature and it gives me an opportunity to support younger photographers and researchers, which I intend to do. I wish for the award to extend beyond myself.”

“Ingrid Pollard’s extensive body of work addresses some of the most pressing issues of our time,” explains Kalle Sanner, CEO of the Hasselblad Foundation. “We are delighted and honored that she is the 44th Hasselblad Award winner and to present her work to a large audience in Scandinavia.”

Ingrid Pollard will be formally honored at an awards ceremony in Gothenburg, Sweden, on October 11, 2024. That same day, an exhibition of her work will open at the Hasselblad Center alongside a new publication about Pollard’s life and work. The ceremony will include a concert with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Sweden’s national orchestra.

“We take great pride in our ongoing collaboration with the Hasselblad Foundation, celebrating distinguished photographers and their achievements in the photographic arts. We are thrilled the Hasselblad Foundation is honoring Ingrid Pollard and proud to present her with our flagship cameras in recognition of her exceptional contributions to the art and photography communities,” explains Hasselblad Marketing Manager Bronius Rudnickas.

Pollard joins an illustrious and exclusive group of prior Hasselblad Award laureates, including Ansel Adams (1981), Cindy Sherman (1994), Hiroshi Sugimoto (2001), Dayanita Singh (2022), and Carrie Mae Weems (2023).

Image credits: Portrait of Ingrid Pollard by Emile Holba. All other photographs © Ingrid Pollard. Significantly more of Pollard’s work is available on her website.

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

JERUSALEM — The exhibition now being shown at the Israel Museum brings together works by the photographers mentioned in Walter Benjamin’s seminal essay about photography which was published in three parts in a German literary journal in 1931. The exhibition echoes the title given by Benjamin to his study of photography, which was still in its early stages, constituting a synthesis between art and technology that inspired a new approach to the world of ideas.

The curator of the exhibition, Gilad Reich, notes that the Israel Museum has in its collections images produced by all the photographers mentioned in Benjamin’s study, this being a rare and singular feature not shared by many museums in the world. Benjamin was one of the first art and culture critics to view photography as a way of relating to the world through images captured by means of a technology that was relatively new, imparting to the image a meaning that was new and possibly even revolutionary. Benjamin coined the concept of ‘aura’ as defining the image and its effect on the viewer.

As we move through the exhibition and view the images on display we find ourselves moving through the history of the photographic medium. It developed initially when Louis Daguerre invented a complex process for reproducing images in 1839, while later technological advances enabled images to be more easily reproduced. Thus, in Victorian England the concept of the ‘photographic visiting card’ bearing a picture of the individual was adopted by Queen Victoria and became widely popular. Photographic studios became the focus of the desire to commemorate the individual or family as an image that was more readily available to a wide segment of the population.

Benjamin, however, was critical of such commercial photographic studios, noting with derision their paraphernalia and ‘props’ intended to enhance the impact of the image or portrait. In the exhibition an enlarged photo of young Franz Kafka illustrates this concept, with the serious young boy holding a stick and a large black hat, surrounded by heavy, dark furniture emphasizing the gravity of the situation.

The technology of photography was still clumsy and demanding when Benjamin was writing about it, with the need for metal plates, chemical processes for developing the image in a dark room, and cumbersome camera equipment. With the passage of time, the emergence of the box camera, special photographic paper, and – more recently – the mobile phone have helped to make the process of photography easy and accessible to all.

Thus, while Benjamin’s concept of ‘aura’ may have lost something of its significance, in its place has come immediacy and the ability to capture the fleeting, ephemeral image which might have interested and intrigued him just as much, had he not died tragically in 1940 while seeking to escape the Nazis on the border between France and Spain.

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is an author and freelance writer based in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion.  She may be contacted via dorothea.shefer@sdjewishworld.com

Look at the world through a different lens at Larson Gallery’s Juried Photography Exhibition, featuring photographers from around the United States. Out of 231 entries, 79 images from 57 artists were accepted into the exhibit that starts March 9 and runs through April 20. This year’s juror is Yakima artist Thomas Harris.

Harris formerly lived in Seattle, where taught photography for 30 years at the Art Institute of Seattle. He received an master’s in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design, working with Harry Callahan, Ray Metsker and Aaron Siskind.

Harris’ work has been honored and purchased by institutions and individuals nationwide. He has received the Seattle Arts Commission Artist Award twice, an Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

“Photographs are an intimate medium: we easily share this intimacy, because the image, given its tacit representative nature, is a reflection of our experience, whether we recognize it or not, are challenged or not,” Harris said. 

“In visual media, especially photography, themes are limited: still life; landscape and variations; visual journalism, nature, portrait and variations and abstraction. All are represented in my selection for the exhibition.

“I looked for thoughtfulness, awareness of light and quality technique, whether work from the categories above or an experiment. I don’t second guess an image or talk it into meaning this or that. If it’s not on the wall or in your hand, it’s not really there…”

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the artistry and technical wizardry of exceptional photographers from all over the United States.

Learn more at www.larsongallery.org.

Exploring new locations for landscape photography, especially in challenging weather conditions, offers a unique opportunity for growth and learning. Venturing into North Wales, this fun adventure provides insights into preparing for the spring season and adapting to the unpredictable elements, highlighting the value of resilience and creativity in outdoor photography.

Coming to you from Ian Worth, this immersive video documents a photography journey through the heart of North Wales amidst wet and windy weather. Worth and Henry Turner’s exploration into uncharted territories underscores the importance of spontaneity and flexibility in capturing compelling landscape images. Worth shares his anticipation for the spring season, discussing the nuances of different woodlands and the timing of leaf emergence across various tree species. This strategic approach to seasonal changes emphasizes the significance of understanding nature’s rhythms and patterns, offering photographers a blueprint for maximizing the vibrancy and dynamism of spring in their work.

Moreover, the video touches on practical aspects of landscape photography, such as the use of technology to scout locations and the art of composing shots in adverse conditions. Worth’s adaptation to the rain and fog, coupled with his strategic use of natural elements for protection and composition, showcases the ingenuity required to thrive as a landscape photographer. His interaction with Turner also brings to light the communal aspect of photography, where sharing knowledge and experiences enriches the creative process. This exchange of ideas and techniques is invaluable, reinforcing the notion that collaboration and open dialogue are key to artistic development. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Worth.

And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, “Photographing the World: Japan With Elia Locardi!”