LAUSANNE.- Photo Elysée announced that Iranian photographer Hannah Darabi has won the Prix Elysée 2025. Her project Why Don't You Dance? was chosen by an international jury amongst eight nominated propositions.


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Based in Paris, Iranian photographer Hannah Darabi wins the Prix Elysée 2025. Her project will be previewed during Paris Photo in November 2025. It will then be published and exhbited at Photo Elysée in June 2026.

She was chosen amongst eight nominated artists: Roger Eberhard (Switzerland), Rahim Fortune (USA), Camille Gharbi (France), Samuel Gratacap (France), Seif Kousmate (Marocco), Felipe Romero Beltrán (Colombia) and Anastasia Samoylova (USA).


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"Hannah Darabi has developed a unique style, mixing her photographs with images from a variety of sources - ephemera, archives and contemporary pop culture. In Why Don't You Dance?, she offers a fascinating exploration of the relationship that Iranian communities have with dance, both in Iran and abroad. The Prix Elysée offers Hannah Darabi the opportunity to develop her artistic research in the form of a publication with multiple layers and readings. Why Don't You Dance? is a very promising step in the expansion of new narratives, offering an innovative voice to contemporary visual culture," emphasizes the jury.

The international jury was made up of Rémi Faucheux, Co-Founder and Co-Director of RVB Books, Paris; Ángel Luis González, Founder and Director of PhotoIreland, Dublin; Clare Grafik, Head of Exhibition at The Photographers' Gallery, London; Nathalie Herschdorfer, President of the Jury and Director of Photo Elysée, Lausanne; Elisa Medde Independent Curator, Amsterdam; and Anna Planas, Artistic Director of Paris Photo, Paris.

Hannah Darabi's career

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.

Hannah Darabi's 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.

Prix Elysée. An international photography prize

The Prix Elysée is one of the most prestigious photography awards. It is awarded every two years following an international call for entries, without theme or age limit, and is dedicated to photo- graphers in the middle of their career. The Prix Elysée allows to finance an ambitious and unpublished project, and to publish it as a book. After a first stage, eight artists are nominated and each receives CHF 5,000 to start a new project. An international jury meets in Lausanne to choose the winning pro- ject from the eight nominees. With CHF 80,000, the winner then has one year to finalize his or her project and publish it.

Offering support and financial means to photo- graphers is as important as preserving their heritage for future generations. It is in a shared commitment to encourage creativity and the creation of new works that Photo Elysée and Parmigiani Fleurier have been associated since 2014 for the Prix Elysée.


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