The history of: The Nordic PhotoBook Award
The colloquially known e-book readers made people believe that the book as an object would disappear. Instead, the physical book resurged with an increasingly steady presence, no longer fostering a “homogenized” voice under large publishing houses, bringing incoming independent publishers and independent agents to the fore.
In addition to several other conversations, a book was published in 2023 following a conference in 2020 to rethink photobook publishing today. Below is a summary of 2012—2023, listing the central stepping stones in the prize’s history.
Photography Bound. Reimagining photobooks and self-publishing is essentially a portable library where each book – selected by the most eclectic and vibrant voices working in the field today – is declared an urgent addition. The result is a multi-part manifesto that radically and intimately engages with photography and publishing. The book unfurls from a three-day conference organized by Antonio Cataldo and Adrià Julià in 2020 at the Faculty of Fine Art, Music, and Design at the University of Bergen and Fotogalleriet, Oslo. The conference found common but fragile ground amid a global health crisis. From there, it managed to catapult discussion and explore the need to print and publish photobooks in depth. Each contribution discloses a unique relationship to photobooks and publishing. Together, they trigger social, political, and cultural demands. This book makes a collective call to action – or actions – and asks each reader to reimagine where photography is bound to go.
Edited by Antonio Cataldo and Adrià Julià. With contributions by: Delphine Bedel, Cosmo Großbach, Niclas Östlind, Aglaia Konrad, Silja Leifsdottir, Abdul Halik Azeez, Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Michele Horrigan, Catalina Lozano and Sean Lynch, Hailey Loman, Sohrab Hura, Erik Gant, Ahlam Shibli, Heidi Bale Amundsen, Terje Abusdal, Kay Jun, Vijai Patchineelam, Ursula Schulz-Dornburg, Antonio Zúñiga and Reyes Sisternas, Paul Gangloff, Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir, Ina Steiner, Moritz Küng, Mette Sandbye, Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, and Anne-Lise Stenseth.
Fotogalleriet, Oslo, and KMD at the University of Bergen organized a three-day event from 13-15 October to analyze valuable support structures connected to producing and promoting artist’s books focusing on photography. Photo-based books and self-publishing have grown steadily in the period 2010/2020, marking a more democratic approach to publishing, less dependent on large publication houses and more focused on independent voices. The digital conference was manifold, firstly aimed at looking at the historical structures for production. Secondly, it addressed the current modalities, giving contemporary practitioners, designers, and publishers advantages and limitations; thirdly, it discussed the future of photo-based publications, including grant systems.
The conference also tackled the Nordic as a vital concept returning to be meaningful more than ever due to the current pandemic and travel limitations, which are changing the world’s geography to refocus on localities.
The conference was free and open to all. It was held digitally, maximizing the geography of participation from the Nordic side and the global photographic field in terms of contributors and audiences. It included: Terje Abusdal, Abdul Halik Azeez, Heidi Bale Amundsen, Delphine Bedel, Bruno Ceschel, Paul Gangloff, Erik Gant, Roberto Figliulo, Cosmo Großbach, Sohrab Hura, Kay Jun, Aglaia Konrad, Moritz Kung, Silja Leifsdottir, Hailey Loman, Catalina Lozano, Vijai Patchineelam, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger, Mette Sandbye, Ursula Schulz-Dornburg, Ahlam Shibli, Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir, Ina Steiner, Niclas Östlind, Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, and Antonio Zúñiga. It concluded with a discussion about Nordic funding with Anne Lise Stenseth (moderator), Tom Klev, Henri Terho, Annika Thörn Legzdins, Klara Þórhallsdóttir, and Tine Vindfeld.
2018
Winner
Ole Nesset — Unburdened Migration
Shortlisted
Øystein Agerlie — Encyclopedia of Man
Celeste Arnstedt / Petter Wessel — Olivenbjerget
Theo Elias — Smoke
August Eriksson — Kaihogyo
Anna Hyvärinen — Lost identity
Steffen Kloster Poulsen — 6 not taken // You Deserve Hell
Matilde Søes Rasmussen — Uprofessionel
Tina Umer — Danish Mountains
Jury
Katrín Elvarsdóttir (artist, co-director & co-founder of The Icelandic Photography Festival, Reykjavik); Annika von Hausswolff (artist and professor in photography at Göteborgs Universitet Akademin Valand); Katarina Skjønsberg (artist and previous winner of the NPBA 2016, Oslo); Tuukka Kaila (artist and co-founder of Rooftop Press, Helsinki); Jesper Rasmussen (artist, co-founder of Space Poetry and former director of the Jutland Art Academy, Aarhus) and Antonio Cataldo (artistic director, Fotogalleriet, Oslo)
2017
Winner
Terje Abusdal —Slash & Burn
Published by Kehrer Verlag
Shortlisted
Simon Berg — Soil
Damian Heinisch — Fünfundvierzig
Karoliina Paatos — Cowboy Girls
Sanne Vils Axelsen — Vindtid
Jury
Johan Rosenmunthe (artist/ co-founder of Lodret Vandret Publishing and the art book festival ‘One Thousand Books’, Copenhagen), Toni Vallasjoki (artist/ co-founder of Photobooks from Finland), Klaus Kehrer (publisher, Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg), Dragana Vojanovic (chief curator, Hasselblad Center, Göteborg), and Stephanie von Spreter (director, Fotogalleriet, Oslo).
2016
Winner
Katarina Skjønsberg — Be Good To Yourself
Published by Kehrer Verlag
Shortlisted
Terje Abusdal — Håpet blendar forstanden
Magnus Cederlund — Intimate
Anna C. J. Ekström — When I Pass Riverside Road
Christian Nilson — The Swiss
Alexander Arnild Peitersen — From Now On
Amar Priganica — Morbus Natura
Marcus Stenberg — A Room of Ones Own
Jo Straube — The Norwegian Library
Nita Vera — Spatial Practices
Jury
Eva Eicker (curator, Photographers’ Gallery, London), Kristine Kern (director, Fotografisk Center, Copenhagen), Marie Sjøvold (photographer, Oslo), JH Engström (photographer), and Klaus Kehrer (publisher, Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg).
2015
Winner
Karina-Sirkku Kurz — Ungleichgewicht
Published and designed by Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg
Shortlisted
Gard Aukrust — Fjella
Nadja Bournonville — Blindfell
Tine Bek — Barok
Helga Härenstam — Sunshine & Shadow
Anni Hanen — Just small hiccups
Jóhannes Kjartansson — Rånebiler
Anni Leppäla / Anna Niskanen — Lustrum
Kaisa Rautaheimo — Good Boy
Johan Willner — Wind Upon the Face of Waters
Jury
Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (curator, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki), Mette Sandbye (Director, Institutt for Kunst- og Kulturvitenskap, Copenhagen University), Marie Sjøvold (photographer, Oslo), Tony Cederteg (designer/ art director/ publisher, Libraryman).
2014
Winner
Iikka Tolonen — Härkälä
Published by Kehrer Verlag
Graphic Design: Henrik Haugan/ Snøhetta
2014
Shortlisted
Terje Abusdal — Radius 500 Metres
Andrew Amorim — Blomster for de døde
Frank Biringer — From the daydreamer’s diary
Corinne Ericsson — Älgpass
Preben Holst — The Stranger
Jonna Kina — Foley Objects
Felix von der Osten — Every Three Seconds
Jorunn Rike — All yours
Kari Soinio — Limited Sky
Jury
Morten Andersen (artist), Anna Eriksson (Art & Theory Publications, Stockholm), Henrik Haugan (Snøhetta), Dieter Neubert (Director, Fotobookfestival Kassel), and Heli Rekula (artist and Professor of Photography at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Bergen).
2013
Winner
Maija Savolainen — When Sense of Belonging is Bound to the System of Movement
Published by Kehrer Verlag
Graphic Design: Henrik Haugan/ Snøhetta
Shortlisted
Jacob Buchard— 52 Oslo
Heikki Kaski — Tranquility
Therése Jennie Olson — Stanna
Erik Östensson — Cirkeln og Linjen
Fatou Madeleine Åsbakk — Diasmemoarene
Jury
Nina Strand (Artist and editor Objektiv), Heli Rekula (artist, Finland and Professor of Photography, Bergen Academy of Art and Design), Beate Cegielska (Director, Gallery Image, Aarhus), Thor Arvid Dyrerud (editor, Press Forlaget), Henrik Haugan (graphic designer, Formetc.) and Tomas Ek (Elanders Fälth & Hässler).
2012
Winner
Christina Leite Hansen — Notes
Published by Press Forlaget, Oslo
Graphic Design: Henrik Haugan/ Formetc
Printed by Elanders Fälth & Hässler
Shortlisted
Kaja Bruskeland — Transformasjon
Jacob Johannes Buchard — fragments
Jan Inge Janbu — Et øyeblikks klarsyn sklir unna
Sveinn Fannar Jóhannsson — Some Los Angeles Apartments
Joakim Kocjancic — Paradise
Magne Lyngvær — Uten tittel
Kalle Sanner — Chinese Puzzle
Sara Skorgan Teigen — Fractal State of Being
Simen Øvergaard — Mitt liv med SAAB.
Jury
Dag Alveng (artist), Heidi Bale Amundsen (critic and Ph.D. candidate, University of Oslo), Thor Arvid Dyrerud (editor, Press Forlaget), Tomas Ek (Elanders Fälth & Hässler), Henrik Haugan (graphic designer, Formetc.) and Anna Tellgren (curator, Moderna Museet Stockholm).