Exploring Textile Transformations with Magnum Photos for our 2023 Competition
Every textile item has an origin story. And yet, our collective appreciation of textiles often centers around the product itself, rather than where it came from, who created it, or what it has come to mean. Textile Exchange’s 2023 Materials Matter Photography Competition, in partnership with Magnum Photos, called on photographers to explore unexpected perspectives on these everyday items, uncovering the way we transform textiles, and how textiles in turn transform us.
The second edition of Textile Exchange’s Materials Matter photography competition, in collaboration with Magnum Photos, invited emerging photographers to share a project under the theme “Textile Transformations.” This year’s brief explored the visual stories that take place when fibers and materials are cultivated, created, spun, woven, sewn, loved, and cherished – gaining cultural and emotional significance through the journey.
The competition saw over 500 photographers from over 70 countries share their interpretations of the multitude of ways in which we transform textiles, and textiles in turn transform us. By placing these themes at the center of the story, the resulting 8,000 photographs reframed the way we relate to their social, cultural, and environmental implications, helping to alter our attitude towards these everyday items.
Clothing and textiles connect us intrinsically to our planet and its many ecosystems, cultures, and communities. While each transformation brings cultural and emotional significance, our collective appreciation of textiles often centers around the product itself, rather than where it came from, who created it, or what it has come to mean.
Chosen by our jury including Aditi Mayer (Photojournalist, Sustainability Activist), Claire Bergkamp (CEO, Textile Exchange), Sonia Jeunet (Education Director, Magnum), Yessenia Funes (Independent Environmental Journalist), Emily Chan (Senior Sustainability and Features Editor, British Vogue), Lindokuhle Sobekwa (Magnum Photographer), and Peter Van Agtmael (Magnum Photographer), the winner and runner-up portrayed entirely contrasting relationships between people and textiles, highlighting both their incredible potential to transform communities and shape identities, as well as contributing to a societal model driven by consumption.
WINNER
Kin Coedel
Explore THE SERIES
Dyal Thak: A Common Thread
RUNNER UP
Madeleine Brunnmeier
Explore THe series
Gestalten: A New Narrative on Clothing Consumption
The 2023 competition is now closed. Sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date with this year’s winners and the latest announcement for 2023.
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