Im Augenblick Gefangen / Capturing the Moment
The ACF London is pleased to present an exhibition of works by the winners and shortlisted artists from our photography prize in tribute of the late Austrian emigre photographer Wolf Suschitzky. The ACF London, with the support of the Austrian Federal Chancellery (BMKOeS) initiated the prize in 2018 following the death of Wolf Suschitzky. Reflecting the dual nature of Suschitzky's identity, the prize was aimed at photographers based in both the UK and Austria. This year the prize is presented in partnership with Fotohof Salzburg.
For our third edition of the Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize we present the winning and shortlisted artists from Austria and the UK who responded to our theme of Im Augenblick gefangen / Capturing the moment.
The exhibition will feature winning entries by Moira Lovell (UK) and Olivia Coeln (Austria) alongside the shortlisted photographers. From Austria: Nicole Maria Winkler, Julius Werner Chromecek, Philipp Hoelzgen & Sona Andreasyan. From the UK: Alfie White, Andreas Billman,
Cal Cole & Jan McCullough.
Both the winning photographers were carefully considered by our UK / Austrian jury. They will receive a residency in the partner city (London or Vienna). The Vienna residency is made possible with the kind support of the BMKOeS.
Moira Lovell’s series Modelling Selfies in Paper Outfits explores how women construct, and are constructed by, their encounters with the image, in the digital age. A time when cameras converged with mobile phone technology and are connected to the internet. Her methods are an interplay of self-portraiture, image-appropriation, and re-enactment. Moira’s selfies, which show herself in front of a mirror wearing paper dresses, address questions of authorship in the arts and the way female subjects tend to be the topic of male artists. By staging herself as the subject, Moira is reversing this imbalance and taking ownership of herself and her body.
Olivia Coeln’s intimate photo series of Koi carp fishes floating in water offers a new approach towards animal photography. The jury applauded the originality of the work and the sense of mystery that is created by these close-up portraits of animals which seem to be suspended in time. She expands the common practices of street photography past the anthropocentric gaze to include nonhuman actors within its scope. Like Wolf Suschitzky in his touching images of zoo animals, such as monkeys, pelicans, zebras she focuses on capturing moments of human and non-human relations, condensing natural, fantastic as well as animistic fragments into psychedelic image montages. Encapsulated in resin, seemingly freezing the gaze of carps in tanks, these photographs seek to frame the mutual, estranging and exhilarating encounters of humans and their domesticated counterparts.
