The jury of the Prix Niépce Gens d’Images met on May 24th to select its 59th winner. Following Valérie Jouve in 2013, this year the 8,000€ prize was awarded to Mathieu Pernot. His candidacy was sponsored by artistic director and curator Christian Caujolle. It’s been a good year for Pernot, 44, who won the Prix Nadar six months ago with L’Asile des photographies, published by Point du Jour, and whose exhibition La Traversée just ended at the Jeu de Paume in Paris.
“It’s obvious to me that Mathieu Pernot, although barely over forty, is one of the most important French documentarians,” says Caujolle. “In any case, he is the most exacting in the way he raises questions that are social—but not anecdotal—and theoretical.”
The jury, chaired by Anne Biroleau, was comprised of curators, publishers and other photo world professionals: Nathalie Bocher-Lenoir, Magali Jauffret, Patrick Le Bescont Sandrine Mahieu, Françoise Paviot, Monique Plon, Benoît Rivero, Jean-François Rospape and Laura Serani.
Created in 1955 by Albert Plécy, the Prix Niépce Gens d’Images was France’s first professional photography prize. The dual objective of its founder was to showcase the work of unknown photographers through media and publishing. The Prix Niépce annually honors the work of a professional photographer under 50. The photographer must be French or have lived in France for more than three years.
