Words Hadeel Mohamed Photography Pieter Hugo
The photography world was stunned in 2011 with the publication of South African photographer Pieter Hugo’s photobook Permanent Error. The stark, arresting photos pictured young boys and men from Ghana’s Agbogbloshie district standing in a blaze of noxious-looking fumes as they harvested precious metals in what had become the world’s dump for electronic goods. The social commentary was wry and powerful – what came across was a wasteland, a place residents call ‘Sodom and Gommorah’ but for which there is really no name.
Now Hugo is in the running for the Deutsche Börse 2012 Photography Prize, which awards £30,000 to a photographer who has contributed significantly to the medium of photography in Europe. All of the four shortlisted photographers, including Hugo, currently have their work displayed in The Photographer’s Gallery in London until 9 September. The winner will be announced on September 3.
Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2012 - The Photographer’s Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW