James Barnor, witness to a Changing Ghana
A woman poses for the camera, seated on a giant box of Agfa photo film in Accra, Ghana. The date is October 22, 1970, and Ghanaian photographer James Barnor has…
Article published on 17.04.2025
Photo Elysée and Parmigiani Fleurier are delighted to announce the winner of the Prix Elysée 2025: Iranian photographer Hannah Darabi for her series Why Don't You Dance?. She was selected by an international jury from among eight nominated projects.
“Hannah Darabi has developed a unique signature style, mixing her photographs and stills with imagery from different sources, including ephemera and archival materials to contemporary pop culture. In Why Don’t You Dance? she offers an exciting exploration of the relationship Iranian communities have with dance, both in Iran and abroad.
The Prix Elysée offers Hannah Darabi the opportunity to develop her artistic research into a multi-layered publication.
The Jury considered Why Don’t You Dance? a very promising step in expanding new narratives, offering an innovative voice to contemporary visual culture.” underlines the Jury.
Career path
Hannah Darabi (IR, 1981) is an artist-photographer born in Tehran. She studied there at the Faculty of Fine Arts, then at the University of Paris VIII-Vincennes-Saint-Denis. Today based in Paris, her country of origin remains the main subject of most of her photographic series. Hannah Darabi was awarded the Bernd and Hilla Becher sponsorship prize by the city of Düsseldorf for her entire artistic output in 2022, and the Madame Figaro award for her exhibition at the Rencontres d’Arles in 2023.
Project
Why Don’t You Dance? is an artistic research project exploring Iranian popular dance through three key figures: Mahvash, Jamileh, and Mohammad Khordadjan. Combining photographic series, archival material, and participatory workshops, the project examines how dance, depending on social and political contexts, can become a tool for identity expression and emancipation, particularly within the Iranian diaspora. Inspired by Mahvash’s autobiography and the karaoke nights at Cabaret Tehran in Los Angeles, it connects past and contemporary dance practices.
With financial support of CHF 80,000 and a one-year timeframe, the Prix Elysée provides the artist with the resources needed to complete her photographic project, which will premiere at Paris Photo in November 2025, followed by a publication and an exhibition at Photo Elysée in June 2026.
