The 35 shortlisted books from the award’s first edition are now on display in the Photography Centre, where visitors can read and handle them. Originating in nearly 20 different countries, they explore intimate, political, and societal themes while experimenting with the form, materiality and use of the photobook format. The variety and creativity of the books attest to the artistic freedom of self-publishing.
The winners of the 2025 Henri Cartier-Bresson Self-Published PhotoBook Award are Lavinia Parlamenti and Manfredi Pantanella for The Lines We Draw (2024), which explores five territories that have declared independence yet remain unrecognised by the international community for a variety of reasons: The Moldavian Republic of Pridnestrovie, the Republic of Artsakh, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Republic of Catalonia, and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Conceived as an imaginary journey connecting these territories, the book brings together documentary photography, archival material, and text, and was designed in collaboration with graphic designer Ania Nalecka-Milach.
The Award was established by the Fondation Cartier-Bresson, Paris.
