News
Amak Mahmoodian shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize – and our students were part of the journey
We’re incredibly proud to celebrate the news that photographer, educator and Boomsatsuma collaborator Amak Mahmoodian has been shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2025. One of the most prestigious awards in contemporary photography.
The prize, which has been running for over two decades at The Photographers’ Gallery in London, recognises four outstanding artists each year for a major exhibition or publication from the previous 12 months. Being shortlisted is a huge achievement in itself: it places an artist on the international stage and culminates in a solo presentation at the gallery, with the winner receiving £30,000.
Amak has been selected for her exhibition “One Hundred and Twenty Minutes”, presented at Bristol Photo Festival from October to November 2024. The work explores time, ritual, and the shifting boundaries between the lived and the imagined, an approach that is unmistakably hers.
This nomination also carries a special meaning for us.
During the festival, Amak spent a week working closely with Boomsatsuma Photography and Print students, opening up her process and inviting them into the ideas behind the exhibition. Rather than simply teaching techniques, she encouraged students to respond – to the images, to the themes, and to the emotional landscape of the work. They experimented with her methods of working with people, explored the gestures and symbolism present in the series, and created new images in direct dialogue with the exhibition.
All of this collaborative work was brought together into a concertina photobook, part sketchbook, part collective response. Hand-printed and constructed by the students, the book became an extension of the exhibition itself and was showcased in a special pop-up at the festival.
Behind the scenes, Boomsatsuma’s own Jamie Murray, Senior Lecturer, supported the production of the exhibition, producing and framing selected works. His involvement extended the relationship between Amak’s art, the festival, and our students, bridging professional practice and education in the way we strive to champion every day.
Amak’s nomination is a moment of recognition for an extraordinary artist but, for us, it also reflects the power of bringing students into real creative environments. When they get to learn from, respond to and collaborate with world-class practitioners, who live and breathe the practice everyday.
We’ll be cheering Amak on as the prize exhibition opens and the final announcement approaches!
