Picturing sustainability: the Prix Pictet

Now into its third year, the Prix Pictet has announced a winner for 2010. Mitch Epstein has received the prize for his series on energy, ‘American Power‘. It’s a great project, and I’ve written more about it over at PostGrowth.org

The Prix Pictet was founded in 2008 as a way of highlighting social and environmental issues through photography. By drawing together work of the highest standard, and commissioning new work from some of the world’s best photographers, it’s raising awareness at the highest levels.

Consider, for example, that this year the theme is growth. Mitch Epstein’s winning work asks whether US “growth no longer meant progress, but self-destruction.” The prize recently appeared in the Sunday Times magazine, as an 11 page feature. Can you imagine any other circumstances in which an article questioning growth would get that kind of attention, in a publication owned by Rupert Murdoch? Art can go places where traditional forms of campaigning will never be welcome.

The Prix Pictet is sponsored by Pictet & Cie, a Swiss private bank. I suppose there’s a certain irony to a wealth management group hosting a competition that questions growth, but as long as Pictet lives up to its environmental funding goals, I can live with that.