Winning projects – Grand Prix Images Vevey 2025/2026

JURY STATEMENT

The Jury of the Grand Prix Images Vevey 2025/2026 is proud to unanimously award the prize to German-born American artist Abdulhamid Kircher for the next chapter of his powerful and far-reaching project, Rotting from Within.

An unflinching investigation into the photographer’s complex relationship with his estranged father, the project captivated the Jury with its artistic constancy, ambition, and emotional depth. Drawing from Kircher’s transnational family history, it explores universal themes such as intergenerational trauma, the shaping of masculinity, fatherhood, and the often-silenced emotional bonds between men.

No visuals from the proposed project currently exist — and it is precisely this element of risk that defines the uniqueness of the Grand Prix Images Vevey. This prize is about supporting a vision in progress: an evolving, sincere, and complex artistic inquiry led by a distinctive and compelling voice.

In this new chapter of his ongoing body of work, Abdulhamid Kircher turns his lens toward father-son dynamics within the world of traditional Turkish oil wrestling. Immersing himself in a culture steeped in masculine ritual, Kircher aims to reveal the understated gestures of affection, fleeting moments of intimacy, and the often-silenced emotional undercurrents that surface within these highly codified and performative spaces.

“I often think about how different my life would have been had I been exposed to love like this by my father or any other male family figure,” Kircher writes.

The Jury highlighted Abdulhamid Kircher’s upcoming project for its courage, its raw energy, clear artistic vision, and his remarkable versatility across photographic genres.

As a compelling continuation of his striking debut, Rotting from Within, this new chapter promises to be a relevant, dynamic, and richly layered body of work — thoughtful in its execution and resonant in its themes — further establishing Abdulhamid Kirchner as one of the most prominent emerging voices in contemporary photography.

Abdulhamid Kircher has one year to complete his new project, supported by the financial and production resources of Images Vevey, with its premiere scheduled for the 10th Images Vevey Biennial in September 2026.

JURY STATEMENT

The Jury is delighted to unanimously award Stacy Kranitz for her book dummy titled Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down as the winner of the Images Vevey Book Award 2025/2026.

Stacy Kranitz was born in Kentucky and currently lives in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Tennessee. Her project captivates through its narrative strength, historical depth, and rare sense of empathy. By tracing the photographic representation of Appalachia over more than a century, Kranitz offers a critical and moving reflection on the camera’s role in shaping social perceptions of poverty and class.

The Jury was particularly impressed by the dignity and sensitivity with which the artist tells the story of one man and, through him, that of an entire marginalized community. Rather than reinforcing stereotypes, she methodically deconstructs them through a compelling interplay of archival materials, contemporary photography, and personal testimony.

The submitted book dummy stood out for its promise of a coherent and thoughtful design, its urgent relevance, and its bold engagement with a long history of neglect and misrepresentation. It confronts uncomfortable yet necessary questions about power, prejudice, and visual responsibility, reaffirming Kranitz’s sustained commitment to a photographic practice that is both aesthetically rigorous and socially engaged.

“My project is an exploration of the ethical role of photography” Stacy writes. “urging a deeper understanding of class, history, and generational poverty.”

Stacy Kranitz now has one year to finalize her book dummy and bring the project to publication, with the financial and production support of Éditions Images Vevey. Both the completed work and the book will be presented at the next Biennale Images Vevey in September 2026.

JURY STATEMENT

The Jury of the Grand Prix Images Vevey 2025/2026 decided to award an Honourable Mention to Kata Geibl for her project Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue.

Drawing on memories, recurring dreams, and personal relationships, the artist creates a series of images combining analogue photography, sketches, and artificial intelligence to explore how unconscious thoughts shape our lives.

The Jury praised the originality of an approach in which introspection becomes a dialogue between imagination, personal narrative, and new technologies. By embracing the tension between control and surrender — between artistic intention and algorithmic unpredictability — the project offers a subtle reflection on how we dream, construct meaning, and communicate through images in the age of AI.

Geibl has said, « When I was 12 years old, my mother’s frustration with me for not talking that much got to the point of yelling. “Why don’t you speak, like any other normal person?” she raised her voice at me. I promptly answered, “Instead of speaking, I have images in my head.” With this new body of work, my mother will see those images that I was talking about. »

Poetic, analytical, and visually compelling, this deeply personal work also evokes the artist’s relationship with her mother and her childhood. It will premiere at the Biennale Images Vevey in September 2026.

JURY STATEMENT

The Jury has decided to award an Honourable Mention to Pacifico Silano, whose project Undercover Pleasures stood out for its strength, relevance, and emotional generosity. Drawing on a deeply personal narrative, interweaving queer identity, family memory, and the legacy of the AIDS crisis, Silano proposes to reconstruct part of his parents’ former adult store as an immersive installation. This moving tribute to his late uncle and his mother explores themes of loss, sexuality, and resilience, reframing a stigmatized space as one of safety and remembrance.

The Jury was struck by the sincerity and complexity of the proposal, which weaves intimate storytelling with broader reflections on homophobia, intimacy, and visual culture. Undercover Pleasures is a bold yet nuanced act of reclamation — challenging prejudice through a sensitive and visually compelling approach.

“The store was fundamental to my mother realizing she could become independent of my father and find a new life,” Silano writes. “This installation is a way to pay tribute to both my deceased uncle and my mother, whose sacrifice went unnoticed by those around her.”

A surprising and potent work in progress, it will premiere at the Biennale Images Vevey in September 2026.

JURY STATEMENT

The Jury awarded an Honourable Mention to Mario Wezel for his book dummy Interstellar Nights, a profoundly intimate and visually innovative exploration of fatherhood. Using a thermal camera to document the five-night weaning process of his second child, Wezel captures the emotional and physical choreography of parenting with rare tenderness and precision.

The Jury was particularly struck by the cinematographic rhythm of the proposed layout, as well as the use of thermal imaging: a technique more commonly associated with surveillance and political conflict, particularly in contexts such as migration or warfare. In Interstellar Nights, this technology is reimagined to illuminate one of the most private of spaces – the family bed – transforming it into a poetic, interstellar landscape where connection, exhaustion, and care quietly revolve.

“Our bed transforms into an interstellar space where mother, father, and child orbit one another,” Wezel writes. “Held together by an invisible gravitational pull, their orbits realign and a new kind of closeness emerges.”

The project stands out for its emotional resonance, conceptual clarity, and its contribution to a more honest and contemporary visual language around parenthood. It will be presented as an immersive installation at the 10th Biennale Images Vevey in September 2026.

JURY STATEMENT

The Jury awarded an Honourable Mention to Karolina Wojtas, whose project We can’t live – without each other offers a raw, joyful, and profoundly unconventional exploration of sibling relationships. In her playful book dummy, Wojtas uses photography, digital manipulation, and absurdist humour to depict her love-hate relationship with her younger brother, a highly personal narrative that resonates universally through its honesty and boldness.

The Jury was particularly struck by the book dummy’s wild energy and inventive form. Soft, playful, and tactile, it takes the unexpected shape of a children’s fabric book, creating a deliberate physical and emotional dissonance between the raw intensity of the images and the underlying unconditional love of a family bond. Inviting touch, laughter, and even ASMR-like reactions, the object engages readers in a physical experience of brotherhood – its closeness, its clashes, and its complexity.

Wojtas has said: “A little brother appeared one day, and our war began,” “We decided to document some of our battles and tricks, to teach siblings from all over the world how to fight!”

Bold in its refusal to explain or justify, We can’t live – without each other is both a celebration and a provocation, a love story disguised as a loud, chaotic, and entirely unique artist’s book. In September 2026, Biennale Images Vevey will present an immersive installation of this intimate yet universal work.