The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation has announced the winners of the 2021 Kraszna-Krausz Photography and Moving Image Book Awards. The winning titles have been chosen as exemplary demonstrations of originality and excellence in the fields of moving image and photography book publishing, from the past year. The titles explore a range of themes, with particular cultural relevance for our current times including most notably cultural identity; collective experiences; social injustices; migration and memory, and global settings from India to Estonia and Africa. Each prize category is awarded £5,000.
Sunil Gupta has been jointly awarded the Photography Book Award for Sunil Gupta: From Here To Eternity, Edited by Mark Sealy (published by Autograph in association with The Photographers’ Gallery, London, and the Ryerson Image Centre, Toronto)
Through a detailed and richly personal documentation, Gupta’s unique vision and political practice is explored alongside his activism and instrumental efforts for LGBTQ+ rights across his career. The book is beautifully set against intimate family and personal moments from Gupta’s past. Gupta is at the forefront of public attention, with the first major retrospective of his work, curated by Dr Mark Sealy MBE, the editor of this book, currently on show at The Photographers’ Gallery until 31 May 2021.
Maria Kapajeva has been jointly awarded the Photography Book Award for Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear (published by Milda Books)
Drawing on personal experiences of her childhood community in Estonia in the lead up to transition to independence from Russian State control, Kapajeva’s beautifully designed publication explores female collectivity, community and independence. At the heart of the bookis the textile factory which played a central role in the town. The factory’s influence extends to the physical manifestation of the book, which is intricately bound in a patterned fabric created by Kapajeva’s mother, a head designer at the mill.
Sunil Gupta is an Indian-born Canadian photographer, based in London. He has been instrumental in raising awareness around the political realities concerning the fight for international gay rights, and his work draws on themes of sexual identity, migration, race and family.
Maria Kapajeva is an artist focused on women’s position in contemporary society, and her works question how identities are formed via subconscious effects of advertising, movies and popular media.
Copyright © Sunil Gupta, Maria Kapajeva and Kraszna-Krausz foundation, all rights reserved
