Cranford, NJ—The 2022 Hasselblad Award winner is New Delhi-born photographer and bookmaker Dayanita Singh. She was honored at the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre and Gothia Towers in Gothenburg, Sweden.
This year’s prize included the approximate sum of $177,425, a gold medal as well as a diploma. In addition, in partnership with the Hasselblad Foundation, the Hasselblad company presented Singh two digital cameras and a lens. They were the newly released X2D 100C and 907X 50C cameras, along with an XCD 55V lens. This marked the first time a Hasselblad Award winner received Hasselblad cameras as part of the prize package.
Founded in 1979, in accordance with Erna and Victor Hasselblad’s last will and testament, the Hasselblad Foundation is an independent organization from the Hasselblad company. The foundation aims to promote research and academic teaching in the natural sciences and photography.
“We are very pleased to be part of honoring Dayanita Singh. We hope this is a start of a long-lasting tradition to collaborate with the Hasselblad Foundation and equip all future Hasselblad Award winners with our latest cameras to support and elevate their photographic and artistic endeavors,” stated Bronius Rudnickas, Hasselblad Marketing manager.
2022 Hasselblad Award Winner
Provided by the Hasselblad Foundation, the Hasselblad Award is an international photography prize granted to a photographer recognized for major achievements. The company has granted the award annually since 1980.
An award committee comprised of internationally prominent experts and scholars in photography is appointed by Hasselblad Foundation’s board of directors. This committee nominates three to five candidates, from which the foundation’s board of directors selects a winner.
Singh studied at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. Moreover, she furthered her studies at the International Center of Photography in New York City. Her work has been displayed at major institutions. They include the Hayward Gallery in London; the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt; the Art Institute of Chicago; as well as the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi.
In addition, Singh has published more than a dozen photo books. What’s more, her most recent mobile museums enable her images to be edited, re-sequenced, archived and displayed. As a result, viewers participate in her embodied work.
“Receiving the Hasselblad Foundation Award means even more than anyone can imagine,” said Dayanita Singh. “For me, it validates the shift I have been trying to make in my work; where the photograph is the raw material from which a final form is made. It can be anything from a single book to a whole museum. Photography is vast and full of possibilities. I accept this award as inspiration for these future creations.”
Winner’s Exhibit
The Hasselblad Foundation highlights Singh’s unique archival work. It not only documents the lives of archives but brings about a new way to interact and experience the art of photography. Furthermore, an exhibition of her signature works is open at the Hasselblad Center in Gothenburg, Sweden, until January 22, 2023.
