Sasha Kurmaz began the Red Horseseries in 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Combining documentary photographs with notes, found images and materials gathered directly from the streets, the book forms a subjective chronicle of the war.
The book was designed by Nicolas Polli and published by the Swiss publishing house Images Vevey.
The award jury comprised artist Jermaine Francis, photography curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum and writer Fiona Rogers, as well as Diana Smith, editor of the British Journal of Photography.
“Sasha Kurmaz’s Red Horse is a deeply personal and urgent reflection on war and how it alters both individual destinies and collective memory,” Rogers commented. “Through his striking use of collage, Kurmaz conveys the fragmentary and precarious nature of life amid Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, weaving visual traces of his own experience into a form that feels both chaotic and deeply human. The result is a moving and visually compelling work, quiet in its political stance but powerful in its emotional depth. A truly outstanding winner.”
The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation is named after Andor Kraszna-Krausz, a publisher born in Hungary in 1904. Kraszna-Krausz studied photography and cinematography at the University of Munich and began his publishing career in Germany in 1925 as editor of the magazine Filmtechnik. In 1937, he arrived in Britain as a refugee and, a year later, founded Focal Press. Following his death in 1989, Kraszna-Krausz’s estate was converted into a foundation.