The 8th edition of the Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award has once again spotlighted the compelling visions of emerging visual artists from around the globe. Held in partnership with LUMA Arles and the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie, the award ceremony and exhibition are taking place in the vibrant setting of Arles, France, from July 5th to October 5th, 2025.
Art and intimacy: a showcase of emerging artist awards
This year’s edition called on participants to respond to the theme Face-to-Face, inviting young creatives to explore identity, perception, and the human gaze. The result is a multi-layered exhibition of photography, video, and experimental media that speaks to both the individual and collective experience. The exhibition, hosted at the Lampisterie building as part of the Rencontres de la Photographie festival, features the works of ten finalists whose projects reflect a bold, intimate, and often technologically advanced approach to contemporary art.
Joel Quayson wins Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award
The top honor was awarded to Joel Quayson, a student at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. His winning work, a self-portrait video titled How do you feel?, stood out for its raw honesty and profound emotional resonance. In the four-minute film, Quayson appears almost motionless, slowly transforming before the camera—applying makeup, changing his clothes, then removing it all—while a single question repeats throughout: “How do you feel?” The piece is a meditation on identity, queerness, and dual heritage, addressing the tension between personal truth and societal expectation.
Quayson’s work will be exhibited again in early 2026 at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, and he will also receive a €10,000 grant from the House of Dior.
Emerging visual artists: expanding the medium
This year’s finalists explored identity through a wide range of mediums beyond traditional photography. Among them:
Qianyi Bao, based in Shanghai, presented a poetic video portrait of nomadic yak-herders on the Tibetan plateau. Momo Nakawa, from Japan, used artificial intelligence and layered installations to create psychedelic digital images. Aline Savioz, a Swiss artist, crafted AI-generated retro-futuristic environments populated by alien-like figures. Raine Roberts, a student at the International Center of Photography in New York, received a special mention for Stages of Compromise, a tactile exploration of nature and loss, inspired by her own stage-four cancer diagnosis.
Courtesy of DIOR
Courtesy of DIOR
Courtesy of DIOR