Dr. Erich Salomon Prize

Born in Lithuania in 1939, Antanas Sutkus is the recipient of the 2017 German Photographic Society’s Dr. Erich Salomon Prize. The award ceremony takes place at 19:00 on June 23, 2017, at the Berlinische Galerie in Berlin.



First granted in 1971, the yearly prize for “the exemplary application of photography in journalism” commemorates Dr. Erich Salomon, the great photographer of the Weimar Republic, who greatly inspired modern day photo journalism.

Sutkus is among Europe and the world’s great humanistic photographers. In the fifties, he began photographing his compatriots in Lithuania, which was an occupied, Soviet constituent republic at the time. During the Cold War, under Soviet control, Sutkus’s bold endeavours were unappreciated by both the authorities and the art bureaucracy: the images he presented of people as well as society did not represent the Soviet ideal, revealing instead the adversities of life, or the modest pleasures he observed. With his work, he managed to convey unique photographic reports from the geographical centre of Europe – a region that, from the western perspective, seemed to be inaccessibly distant.

The prize consists of a name-engraved Leica M camera along with a winner's certificate.

In addition, on June 24, 2017, the Berlinische Galerie will host Vintage. A word makes photographic history, an interdisciplinary meeting combining art, the market, and law.

Further information at: Berlinische Galerie and Dr.-Erich-Salomon-Preis