Jim Goldberg wins Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2011

US photographer Jim Goldberg has received the 15th Photography Prize organised by The Photographers' Gallery in London in association with Deutsche Börse.

The prize was presented by broadcaster and critic Miranda Sawyer at a ceremony at Ambika P3 at the University of Westminster where the exhibition is held this year.

Each year, the award goes to a living photographer that has made "the most significant contribution, in exhibition or publication format, to the medium of photography in Europe" over the past 12 months.

Magnum photographer Goldberg was nominated for his exhibition Open See, which went on show last year at The Photographers' Gallery. He came ahead of three other photographers and artists - Thomas Demand, Roe Ethridge and Elad Lassry.

Open See "documents the experiences of refugee, immigrant and trafficked populations who travel from war torn, socially and economically devastated countries, such as Iraq, Bangladesh, China, The Balkans and Congo, to make new lives in Europe. Fusing Polaroids, video, written text, ephemera and large and medium format photographs, Goldberg reflects on issues of migration and the conditions for desiring escape."

Brett Rogers, director of The Photographers' Gallery, comments: "Due to the breadth of the Award criteria, the jury felt that any one of the four nominees could have been the winner. They however awarded the Prize to Jim Goldberg for Open See, acclaiming its timely and inventive approach to documentary practice, at the heart of which lies for him co-authorship, a form of creative collaboration allowing these individuals to tell their own stories."

According to Julia Taeschner, head of corporate responsibility for Deutsche Börse, "the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize has once again succeeded in bringing together the most important and interesting representatives of the European photographic scene."

The exhibition is on show until 01 May. It will then go to Berlin from 12 May for six weeks. For more details, visit www.photonet.org.uk.

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