Candlestar

Call for applications

Applications for our 10th anniversary edition in May 2025 are open to galleries representing the best in photography from across the world. Join us in celebrating the rich traditions of photography and the medium’s future possibilities as it crosses the boundaries between photography and other art forms.

Deadline to apply 25 October 2024

More info in bio

Image: © Graham / Finn Carlow

Artworks: David Bailey () exhibited by Camera Eye Ltd () during Photo London 2024

Applications for Photo London 2025 are now open to galleries representing the best in photography from across the world! Register now to be part of the 10th anniversary edition.

The Fair will continue to present powerful photography of the very highest standard to a global audience. Through strong curation by exhibiting galleries, Photo London aims to ensure a special anniversary edition that is both a celebration of the 10 years of the Fair, and of the rich traditions of photography and an exploration of the medium’s future possibilities as it crosses the boundaries between photography and other art forms.

🔗 Discover more about applying via our bio link.

📣 Join our Team! We are now seeking to build on the successes of the last decade through the appointment of a dynamic individual as Fair Manager.

Your job will be to assist the Fair Director in all aspects of delivering Photo London. You will act as the dedicated gallery liaison and will develop relationships with participating galleries and carry out all communication with exhibitors.

We are looking for an exceptional candidate with sound knowledge of the international art and photography world. The successful candidate will have a positive approach, be highly diplomatic and be able to demonstrate excellent interpersonal, organisational and communication skills.

Learn more about this opportunity and how to apply: bit.ly/pl-fair-manager

Application deadline: 12 September 2024

Prix Pictet Human opens at the V&A.

The Prix Pictet is the world’s leading award for photography and sustainability. It was founded in 2008 by the Pictet Group with the goal of harnessing the power of photography to draw global attention to the critical issue of global sustainability. To date, there have been ten cycles of the award, each with its own theme highlighting a particular facet of sustainability.

In their own unique way, each of the shortlisted photographers explore our shared humanity and the vast spectrum of our interactions with the world. The shortlisted portfolios span documentary, portraiture, landscape, and studies of light and process and explore issues ranging from the plight of indigenous peoples, conflict, childhood, the collapse of economic processes, to the traces of human habitation and industrial development, gang violence, border lands, and migration. Taken together their work is, broadly, a commentary on our role as stewards of the planet.
Exhibition open until 22 October.

Prix Pictet is produced by Candlestar.

Image credit: David Levene.

GAURI GILL WINS TENTH PRIX PICTET, WORLD’S LEADING PHOTOGRAPHY AND SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

Indian photographer Gauri Gill was announced this evening, Thursday 28 September, as the winner of the tenth cycle of the Prix Pictet, the global award for photography and sustainability, receiving the prize of 100,000 Swiss Francs. Gill was selected from a shortlist of 12 photographers by an independent jury.

Gill’s work emphasises her belief in working with and through community, in what she calls ‘active listening’. For more than two decades, she has been closely engaged with marginalised communities in the desert of western Rajasthan, Northern India and for the last decade with Indigenous artists in Maharashtra.

The Prix Pictet is produced by Candlestar

Gauri Gill, Jannat, Barmer, 1999–ongoing

Stephen Barber, Chairman, Prix Pictet; Isabelle Von Ribbentrop, Executive Director, Prix Pictet; Michael Benson, Director, Prix Pictet; and Fariba Farshad, co-Director of Candlestar on stage at Rencontres d'Arles last night for the announcement of the Prix Pictet Human shortlist.

Candlestar is delighted to announce the twelve photographers shortlisted by the independent jury for Human, the tenth cycle of the Prix Pictet. The shortlist was presented last night, Thursday 6 July 2023, at an evening screening at the Théâtre Antique in Arles by Isabelle von Ribbentrop, Executive Director of the Prix Pictet. The screening was part of the programme of the opening week of Les Rencontres d’Arles International Photography Festival.

Hoda Afshar, Iran
Gera Artemova, Ukraine
Ragnar Axelsson, Iceland
Alessandro Cinque, Italy/Peru
Siân Davey, UK
Gauri Gill, India
Michał Łuczak, Poland
Yael Martínez, Mexico
Richard Renaldi, US
Federico Ríos Escobar, Colombia
Vanessa Winship, UK/Bulgaria
Vasantha Yogananthan, France

Candlestar conceived the award in collaboration with the Pictet Group and continues to deliver the Prix Pictet touring exhibition and accompanying publication

2023 EXHIBITORS ANNOUNCED

Photo London 2023 brings together over 110 exhibitors from 55 cities worldwide, showcasing artworks with themes ranging from the socio-political to the cinematic; the constructed to the hyper-real. This year the Fair presents several galleries supporting photographers from Iran: LS10 Gallery (London) presents a focus on Iranian contemporary photography; Roya Khadjavi Projects /Nemazee Fine Art (New York) brings together the works of five Iranian photographers whose practice is based on a documentary engagement intertwining socially conscious and environmental works from urban communities to the rural landscape; while O Gallery (Tehran) is presenting works by the contemporary photographer Mohammedreza Mirzaei alongside rare prints by Kaveh Kazemi.

Lea Lund & Erik K, Erik, Spring Street, Manhattan, 2014, pigment print. © Lea Lund & Erik K, Courtesy Catherine Edelman

Candlestar are looking forward to welcoming you between 11-14 May to Photo London 2023!

Take advantage of a 20% discount with Early Bird tickets. Offer ends 17 February at 11am

Get tickets at: https://tinyurl.com/yckheyf9

Twenty years have passed since Candlestar was formed by respected authorities on photography and arts production Michael Benson and Fariba Farshad. Since then, we have built an outstanding reputation for the planning and delivery of major Exhibitions, Exhibition Tours, Awards and Publications.

Candlestar has been committed to excellence since its beginning, ensuring quality and integrity is at the heart of every project we work on.

During this time, we have run 8 editions of Photo London at Somerset House, 10 cycles of the Prix Pictet, and numerous large and small scale projects both in the UK and internationally.

To find out more about our work visit: https://lnkd.in/e9mAT99q

Every project is unique and every client needs different levels and types of assistance.

Please get in touch to discuss how we can tailor our services to meet your needs.

HAHNEMÜHLE STUDENT AWARD: NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

The students nominated for the inaugural Hahnemühle Student Award have been revealed. Chosen by photography tutors from UK universities, the 43 selected students will now be considered by the jury for the shortlist, which will be announced in February.

Congratulations to the 43 students nominated:


Esme Morris, University of Brighton
Zosia Szymanowska, University of Brighton
Isabella Armitage, Kingston University
Shona Goolab, Kingston University
Kala Heatherson, University of Lincoln
Connor Lenton, University of Lincoln
Anselm Ebulue, London College of Communication
Brian Bett, London College of Communication
Chelsea Pineda, London College of Communication
Fion Hung-Ching Yan, London College of Communication
Manyi Chan, London College of Communication
Jay Forster, London College of Communication
Ziyu Wang, London College of Communication
Gianluca Barbazza, London Metropolitan University
Lakruwan Rajapaksha, Metropolitan University
Amelia Gorochowik, London South Bank University
András Ladocsi, Royal College of Art
Longyin Wang, Royal College of Art
Alan Bell, Glasgow School of Art
Haneen Hadiy, Glasgow School of Art
Jack Purvis, The Northern School of Art
Matthew Fletcher, The Northern School of Art
Clement Hewison, The Northern School of Art
Rachel Marsh, The Northern School of Art
Rhianna Fletcher, The Northern School of Art



Image: Mabel Hall, Leeds Arts University

Candlestar are currently recruiting for an exhibition and graphic designer with a minimum of five years’ experience. We are looking for a highly motivated individual to lead projects from concept through to completion.

For more information and to apply: https://tinyurl.com/sb4aaznd

Candlestar would like to wish you a happy new year and look forward to the year ahead!

This image by Chloe Dewe Mathews is featured in our latest publication ‘Collage’, showcasing recent work on the theme of sustainability by 64 leading women photographers shortlisted or nominated for the Prix Pictet.

Shot in the alpine landscape that inspired Mary Shelley’s classic novel, Mathews’ photographic series ‘In Search of Frankenstein’ juxtaposes snow-covered mountains with a network of eerie subterranean bunkers, built in the 1960s to shelter the entire population of Switzerland in the event of a nuclear disaster. The project was conceived during a residency at the Verbier 3-D foundation in 2016, when the artist discovered that Shelley’s manuscript was started during an unusual holiday on the shores of Lake Geneva.

You can order the book and discover its outstanding photography via https://tinyurl.com/2wexjwv3

Ai Iwane has been announced as the winner of the third cycle of the Prix Pictet Japan Award

Don’t miss their work as part of the shortlisted artists exhibition at the TOP Museum, Tokyo, open until 22 January 2023.

The third cycle of the Prix Pictet Japan Award, with the theme of Fire & Water, has opened at the TOP Museum, Tokyo.

Photographers were nominated by a global network of nominators and after a rich debate the jury arrived at a final shortlist of eight photographers who, in their opinion, have produced a series of work that is both artistically outstanding and presents a compelling narrative related to the theme.

Shortlisted artists are Takashi Arai, Ai Iwane, ‪Susumu Okada, Mikiya Takimoto, Kenji Chiga, Shinichiro Nagasawa, Nao Nakai, Yoshinori Mizutani.

The two previous winners of the Japan Award are Kikuchi Tomoko (2015) and Shiga Lieko (2017).

The exhibition of the shortlisted work will be presented at the TOP Museum, Tokyo until 22 January 2023.

Learn more at: https://tinyurl.com/3v362sx7

Candlestar would like to wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

We look forward to seeing you at the next edition of Photo London 11-15 May and at other Candlestar projects throughout 2023.

Candlestar updated their business hours.

Candlestar updated their info in the about section.