High Honours

With the Otto Steinert Prize for Photography, the DGPh aims to provide a springboard for promising young photographers: at the Gala in Hamburg on 12 October, Aliona Kardash was introduced as the recipient of this year’s 5000-euro grant for the completion of her project It Smells of Smoke At Home. Originally from Tomsk, Siberia, the documentary photographer is currently studying for her Master’s degree at the FH Dortmund.

German photographer and university lecturer Andrea Diefenbach was honoured with the prestigious DGPh Dr. Erich Salomon Prize, in recognition of her empathetic portrayal of precarious everyday realities in Eastern European countries as part of her independent projects. The prize is supported by Leica Camera; at the grand award ceremony, the laureate was presented with a Leica Q3. 

Since 1959, the German Society for Photography has awarded the DGPh Cultural Prize to contemporary personalities who have made outstanding contributions to the field of photography. The 2024 DGPh Cultural Prize honours the internationally renowned publisher and printer Gerhard Steidl. Printed reproductions play a key role within photography as an expressive medium. Steidl Publishing has maintained a dedicated photo-book segment for exactly 30 years to date – which has continuously enhanced the visibility of photography within an art context.