Rene Matić, 29, Becomes Youngest Ever Deutsche Börse Photography Prize Winner
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- Rene Matić, 29, won the £30,000 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation prize, making them the youngest person ever to receive the award
- Matić was nominated for their solo exhibition "As Opposed to the Truth" at CCA Berlin, with a smaller reconfiguration of the show currently at the Photographers' Gallery in London
- Matić was also the youngest artist ever nominated for the Turner Prize last year, per the source
- The critic praised Matić's 2022 work "Upon This Rock" — a photographic installation and film exploring their father Paul's involvement with the skinhead movement — as breaking new ground conceptually and materially
- The critic compared Matić unfavorably to Wolfgang Tillmans and Nan Goldin, arguing Matić adapts their multi-image display methods but doesn't advance them
- The critic concluded the win suggests "how you market yourself is possibly more important than the work you make," faulting the work for preachiness, performative vulnerability, and a lack of viewer-engaging tension
Why it matters: A £30,000 prize and its youngest-ever recipient send a signal about what major photography institutions currently value, and this review pushes back — arguing the award rewards identity-focused autobiography and self-presentation over photographic innovation, a tension that could shape what kinds of work get celebrated by the prize in future cycles.
