The finalists for Scotiabank Photography Award 2014 are gifted Canadian photographers Rodney Graham, Mark Ruwedel, and Donald Weber. This is the fourth year of the award, which is Canada’s largest annual peer reviewed award honouring the work of contemporary Canadian photographers.
The award founded by Burtynsky and Jane Nokes, Director, Scotiabank Archives, Corporate Records and Fine Art Collection and Executive Director of Scotiabank Photography Award, is designed to provide support to the winning artist as he or she reaches for the next level of national and international recognition.
Rodney Graham: A conceptual artist, Rodney Graham has created a varied body of work, exploring and reflecting on works of art, music and literature, as well as events in intellectual history. He has exhibited widely throughout North America and Europe for more than 30 years. A highly prolific artist, Graham has produced a vast array of works, primarily in photography and media art installations, while also making use of such diverse media as film, painting, literature, and music.
Rodney Graham, Sunday Sun, 2012
Mark Ruwedel: Mark Ruwedel first became interested in photography while studying painting at Kutztown State College, Pennsylvania and later moved to Montreal to pursue graduate studies in photography at Concordia University. Ruwedel’s photographic interests are found in the contemporary landscape and the nature/culture dynamic, photographing in both black-and-white and colour. With several bodies of work now published in print, Ruwedel’s latest book, “Pictures of Hell” will be released this fall.
Mark Ruwedel, Central Pacific #18, 1994
Donald Weber: Donald Weber is one of Canada’s most compelling practitioners in the field of documentary photography, devoted to the study of how power deploys an all-compassing theatre for its subjects. His diverse photography projects have been exhibited as installations, exhibitions and screenings at festivals and galleries worldwide. Currently, Weber is working on his next project, War Sand, about historic sacrifice and the meaning of war in our modern world.
Donald Weber, Bastard Eden, Our Chernobyl, 2005 – 2007
“We are proud to be able to recognize these remarkable talents in Canadian contemporary photography as finalists for the Scotiabank Photography Award,” said Nokes. “Each of their artistic journeys has led to great bodies of work and we are excited to be able to help shine a spotlight on that journey.”
The shortlist was selected from a list of nominees from across Canada proposed by an eminent panel of nominators. Nominators include curators, photographers, artists, gallery directors, art writers, professors and critics from across the country.
The winner of the Scotiabank Photography Award receives a cash prize of $50,000, a book of their work to be published and distributed worldwide by Steidl of Germany, the renowned art photography publisher, and a major solo exhibition at the Ryerson Image Centre, as part of next year’s Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. The two shortlisted artists receive cash prizes of $5,000 each.
The 2014 Scotiabank Photography Award winner will be announced on April 29, 2014 at the Ryerson Image Centre.