Who says photography no longer pays? Rene Matić has been named the winner of this year’s Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, walking away with a far-from-shabby £30,000 ($40,148) cash prize.
Born in Peterborough, UK, in 1997, Rene won the prestigious prize for an exhibition called As Opposed to the Truth, which took place at CCA in Berlin from November 2024 to February 2025.
It featured installations and sound pieces along with new photographs.
These diaristic, snapshot-like photographs capture everyday moments with poetic intimacy. ‘The photographs, combined with collected objects, film and sound, form a vivid and layered portrait of contemporary life,’ said the competition organisers, noting how Rene’s work turns to interpersonal relationships to show how people hold on to one another, and learn to live with vulnerability.
‘An artist is only one small cog in a large machine of people, workers, communities, organisers and carers who make it possible for ideas to become real and I would not be here without any of these people,’ said Rene on receipt of the prize.
‘I really truly would not survive without the radical sustaining power of art, especially now.’
The influential prize, in partnership with the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, rewards artists and their projects recognised as having made the most significant contribution to international contemporary photography in Europe over the past 12 months.’
The other shortlisted artists – Jane Evelyn Atwood, Weronika Gęsicka and Amak Mahmoodian – all received £5,000. An exhibition showcasing work by all four shortlisted artists is on show at The Photographers’ Gallery in London until 7 June 2026.
A selection of Rene Matić’s winning work
Further reading
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