5th November 2025
My first ever 'official' filmmaker on A Small Voice, Paul Sng, 2026 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize shortlist announced, Paris Photo is coming up...
THIS WEEK ON A SMALL VOICE PODCAST…
Out NOW on A Small Voice podcast, and taking over the Instagram account for a few days, my first ‘official’ documentary filmmaker on the podcast, and hopefully the first of many, Paul Sng.
One of the reasons I thought Paul would be a great choice for my inuagural filmmaker episode is because he made a feature-length film about photographer Tish Murtha, whose name and wonderful work I was only vaguely aware of until I heard about and ultimately watched Tish (for those of you in the UK, it’s still available to watch on BBC iPlayer). I highly recommend it. Regardless of whether you’re already a fan of Tish’s work or whether, like me, you were not aware of her, it’s a fascinating insight into her singular vision and ethos, both as a photographer and a politically engaged human being.
Beyond Tish, Paul has made a number of compelling films, including his most recent, a dynamic portrait of the esteemed Scottish author Irvine Welsh entitled Reality Is Not Enough. As his own bio states: “Paul strives to make bold and creatively ambitious films that connect emotionally with audiences, working collaboratively with great teams to tell stories about outsiders and amplify rebellious voices.”
Find a full bio and all relevent links in the show notes here. Enjoy the episode!
Also…
Here in London, The Photographers Gallery has announced the four shortlisted artists for the 2026 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, which “identifies and rewards artists for an exhibition or book that has made a significant contribution to photography in the past 12 months.”
The 2026 shortlisted artists are: Jane Evelyn Atwood, Weronika Gęsicka, Amak Mahmoodian and Rene Matić.
The 2026 shortlist features collaborative projects; long-term investigative documentary photography; installations, video and sound pieces; and experimental conceptual photography.
The shortlist explores themes of exile and memory; gender inequalities and advocacy; identity and belonging, subculture and class; and the shifting boundaries between photographic fact and fiction.
Shortlisted for her publication Too Much Time / Trop de Peines, a revised, bilingual reprint of two works originally published in 2000 and updated by Le Bec En L’Air, Marseille in 2024, Jane Evelyn Atwood (b. 1947, New York, USA) documented life in women’s prisons in the 1990s. Her advocacy and investigation expose the ongoing inequalities for incarcerated women.
Shortlisted for the publication Encyclopaedia, published by BLOW UP PRESS and Jednostka Gallery in November 2024, Weronika Gęsicka (b. 1984, Włocławek, Poland) humorously reimagines fake encyclopaedia entries. Her work spotlights the tensions between truth and invention, leading us to question what is ‘real’?
Shortlisted for the exhibition One Hundred and Twenty Minutes at the Bristol Photo Festival, UK, in collaboration with Multistory (16 October – 17 November 2024), Amak Mahmoodian (b. 1980, Shiraz, Iran) focuses on the effects of exile on memory and identity. Through collaboration, she imagines a world without borders, one where shared dreams bridge geography, politics and time.
Shortlisted for the exhibition AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH, at CCA Berlin, Germany (8 November 2024 – 15 February 2025), Rene Matić (b. 1997, Peterborough, UK) captures intimate moments in a vivid and layered portrait of everyday life. Their work explores how bodies and identities are shaped, and often constrained, by the political forces around them.
The exhibition of selected work from the four artists’ shortlisted projects will be at The Photographers’ Gallery from 6 March to 7 June 2026.
The winner of the £30,000 prize will be announced on Thursday 14 May, with each of the other shortlisted artists receiving £5,000.
Also…
Paris Photo 2025 kicks off next week, November 13-16, at the Grand Palais, with the usual additional attraction of the book fair, Polycopies, which takes place on a boat on the Seine. There is also a full agenda of partner exhibitions across the city. I’m looking forward to going for a couple of days and getting a podcast in the can while I’m there.
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