Header photo: Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear by Maria Kapajeva 

The winners of this year’s Kraszna-Krausz Foundation annual Photography and Moving Image Book Awards have now been announced, with the winning titles chosen as stand out examples of books representing each category. As always, the long and short lists were full of contemporary issues, including cultural identity; collective experiences; social injustices; migration and memory from around the world. It’s heartening to see an award that doesn’t focus solely on commercial popularity and opens its doors to a diverse range of creatives.

Amidst tough competition, the Photography Book Award has been awarded jointly to Sunil Gupta for Sunil Gupta: From Here To Eternity and Maria Kapajeva for Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear.

Sunil Gupta: From Here To Eternity by Sunil Gupta, edited by Dr Mark Sealy MBE (Autograph in association with The Photographers’ Gallery and Ryerson Image Centre)

Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear by Maria Kapajeva (Milda Books)

Sunil Gupta is known for his photographic work depicting the injustice suffered by the LGBTQ+ community and highlighting race and migration against the constant of family life. His images form an important social commentary and have been exhibited globally. This book forms his first major retrospective.

Sunil Gupta: From Here To Eternity by Sunil Gupta

Maria Kapajeva’s work focuses on women’s position in contemporary society; the title of her book Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear comes from the lyrics of March of Enthusiasts, featured in the Soviet movie The Bright Way (1940) about a female weaver making her journey from peasant to Stakhanovite (a group of workers who regularly surpassed production targets and were specially honoured and rewarded). The book is centred on a textiles factory in Estonia.

Dream is Wonderful, Yet Unclear by Maria Kapajeva

The winners of this year’s Moving Image Book Award are Marie-Hélène Gutberlet and Brigitta Kuster for their books On the Run: Perspectives on the Cinema of Med Hondo and 1970—2018 Interviews with Med Hondo.

On the Run: Perspectives on the Cinema of Med Hondo and 1970—2018 Interviews with Med Hondo edited by Marie-Hélène Gutberlet and Brigitta Kuster (Co-published by Archive Books and Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst. Funded by TURN Fund of the German Federal Cultural Foundation)

Marie-Hélène Gutberlet and Brigitta Kuster have used their combined skills and knowledge in art history, philosophy, film studies, cultural research and writing to document the talent of Med Hondo, a Mauritanian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and voice actor who gained acclaim for his work until his death in 2019.

On the Run: Perspectives on the Cinema of Med Hondo and 1970—2018 Interviews with Med Hondo edited by Marie-Hélène Gutberlet and Brigitta Kuster 

Digital live-streamed events centred around the winning titles will take place on 1st June for the Photography Book Award and 3rd June for the Moving Image Book Award, hosted by and in partnership with The Photographers’ Gallery.

You can find more details about the awards on the Kraszna-Krausz website.

Words by Siobhan
Images reproduced with permission via Flint Culture and copyrighted as detailed, book spread shots by David Tett Photography 

24th May 2021