V&A Parasol Foundation Prize for Women in Photography Winners 2024

Congratulations to the four winners of the V&A Parasol Foundation Prize for Women in Photography.

The Prize is fast becoming an established part of the art world’s calendar. Now in its second year, it attracted more than 1400 submissions from across the world who responded to the theme ‘Histories’.

The winners’ work made a big impact at Peckham 24, the annual festival of contemporary photography in SE London which this year extended to a ten-day run. Each winner also received a bursary of £2000, an expenses paid trip to London and participation in the Peckham 24 exhibition and talks programme. 

They will also feature on the influential V&A blog and the Instagram account. The winners were chosen by the V&A’s external prize selection committee – co-chaired by Fiona Rogers the Parasol Foundation Curator of Women in Photography and Vivienne Gamble, co-founder of Peckham 24, they were joined by Bruno Ceschel, Founder and Director of Self-Publish Be Happy (SPBH), Dr Zoe Whitley, Director of Chisenhale Gallery London and Deborah Willis, University Professor at the Tish School of the Arts, New York University.

Of the winners’ the selection committee said:

“These four artists brilliantly demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the theme ‘Histories’, capturing the concept with diverse and sophisticated visual approaches.”

The winners

Aisha Seriki, Untitled, from the series Ori Inu, 2023

Aisha Olamide Seriki is a Nigerian, London-based multimedia artist pursuing an MFA in Arts and Humanities at the Royal College of Art. Grounded by the principles of Ìsèse (Yorùbá Spiritual Tradition), her work uses photo-manipulation techniques to explore the relationships between photography and the self. Influenced by the concept of Orí (a Yorùbá reference to one’s spiritual destiny). Seriki’s series Orí Inú investigates the history of photographic ‘keepsakes’, drawing on the metaphor of the calabash and the comb as cultural symbols of African diasporan histories, empowerment, ritual and self-care.

Nancy Floyd, Nieces Dijon and Donna 1982/20212, from the series Weathering Time, 1982/2012

Nancy Floyd is an American artist raised in Texas and now based in Oregon. Weathering Time is an ongoing series of environmental self-portraits which began in 1982 when Floyd was just 25 years old. 40 years later, this visual calendar now comprises 2500 photographs which reflect the artist’s personal experience of ageing whilst also reflecting on the cultural, technological, and physical changes that have occurred over the past forty years.

Slivia Rosi, ABC VLISCO 14/0017,2022. Work produced with the support of the MAXXI Foundation – National Museum of XXI arts, Rome and BVLGARI

Silvia Rosi works with photography, text and moving image to explore ideas of memory, migration and diaspora. Born in Italy and living and working between the UK and Togo, Rosi’s practice is inspired by West African studio photography and the artist’s Togolese heritage. Her series Teacher Don’t Teach me Nonsense combines photography and video to explore the artist’s connection to Mina, a Togolese language regulated by colonial rule.

Mia Weiner, the bathers, Rome, 2023. Handwoven cotton, acrylic, and silk © Image courtesy of the artist and T293

Responding to historical textiles, Los Angeles-based artist Mia Weiner creates handwoven tapestries which explore mythology, identity, gender, and queerness, reflecting on personal relationships, memory and the body. In Sirens, Weiner interrogates how the human figure has been represented in art history and in particular how female subjects have often been depicted as objects. Working with her own body along with other female, non-binary, and intersex models, Weiner explores how figurative representation can hold power and agency.

Celebrating the winners

Where better to hold the industry networking event for this year’s Prize winners than The Parasol Foundation Gallery itself? It’s the first time that an evening event has been held in the stunning space. It was an opportunity for the winners to meet key gallerists, photographers and curators with Fiona Rogers, V&A Parasol Foundation Curator of Women in Photography Project alongside leading partners in our work in the UK such as Professor Dame Lesley Regan, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Dorothy Edwards President, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge and, Charlie Hyman co-founder and CEO of Bloomsbury Football.

The evening started with a private tour of the new V&A exhibition Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection, led by Duncan Forbes, Head of Photography at the V&A. It’s a 300 strong incredible collection of photographs arranged across nine themed gallery spaces. It was a night of celebration of the power of photography that will live long in the memory for all.

Thanks to Niklas Halle’n for his photography of the event.