Born in 2006, The F Award is a biennial international award for concerned photography launched by Forma Foundation for Photography.
The F Award is inspired by the following words, published in 1972 by Cornell Capa: “They are concerned photographers who demonstrate in their work a humanitarian impulse to use pictures to educate and change the world not just record it“.
The fourth edition of the F Award will be in 2013.
The winner of the F Award gets a contribution of euro 20.000, an exhibition at Forma and the possibility of publishing a book. A special section, F25, for photographers under 25 sees the winner awarded with a one year scholarship.
In 2010 for the Third F award, 287 entries coming from photographers of 43 different countries were submitted to the prestigious Jury. Chaired by Peter Galassi, the jury included Monica Allende (The Sunday Times Magazine), Enrico Bossan (Fabrica), Melissa Harris (Aperture Magazine), Roberto Koch (Forma), Paolo Pellegrin (Magnum Photos), Urs Stahel (Museum of Winterthur).
The recipient of this year Award is Jérôme Sessini (Magnum Photos) for the work So far from God, too close to America. The book “The wrong side”, just published by Contrasto, is the result of his project started in 2008: a dive into the drug cartels war in Mexico. This compelling reportage is a valuable document about the most dangerous cities in the country: Culiacan, Tijuana and especially Ciudad Juarez. This work has been awarded by the mention: “Jérôme Sessini’s ongoing exploration of drug-related violence in Mexico at the U.S. border is remarkable for its sustained engagement with an increasingly alarming and dangerous reality, for its attention to concrete particulars, and for its ambition to convey the scope and complexity of the conflict.” The exhibition “The wrong side” will open at Forma next November 2012.
The second edition the jury, chaired by photographer Reza Deghati, awarded Léonie Hampton (Great Britain) for the project In the shadow of things. An exceptional work about Bron, Leonie’s mother and her long-running battle with OCD and depression. In the Shadow of Things is the product of the months that Léonie spent with her mother as together they tried to tackle the irrational rituals and behaviours that were dominating her life. The result is an honest and intimate portrait of a family dealing with mental illness, a reflection on the power of the past, and a testament to the bond between a mother and a daughter. The book is published by Contrasto.
Chaired by Tom Stoddart, the recipient of the first edition was Jessica Dimmock (New York) with the project The Ninth Floor. For almost three years Jessica Dimmock followed in a powerful way the stories of the heroin addicts living on “The Ninth Floor” of a Manhattan apartment building. Many have photographed the tragedy of the world of drugs, but the strength of these images gives a new and extraordinary account, both intimate and raw. For this work Jessica was commissioned by the Grammy Award winning artist Moby to produce the official music video for the song Wait For Me. The book The Ninth Floor is published by Contrasto.
