Dummy Award 2026 – Jury Statement

One Saturday in March, seven of us gathered in a (reportedly) uncharacteristically rainy Cologne to review and make a small selection from a range of about 325 dummy books submitted from (almost) all over the world. It was a true privilege. As one of the jury members, Mimi Mollica, states “Engaging with the content and narratives of many artists is a huge honour and it offers us the privilege to acquire a panoramic view on a variety of topics and approaches to the medium.”

We worked from morning until midnight and while this may sound exhausting or daunting to some, it was anything but. We were driven by a shared passion, energy, and curiosity that was first of all sparked by our hosts, the PhotoBookMuseum, and infected us all. Outside of the jury period, we had the opportunity to explore the neighbourhood of Körnerstraße led by tour guide extraordinaire Markus Schaden, encountering the local ecosystem of pure creativity and a very palpable community spirit. This energy resonated with us throughout the day and fuelled our fires for the deliberations laying ahead of us.

It is that same deep, genuine enthusiasm and commitment that fuels organisations like PBM that also fuels the artistic and photobook communities. A spirit that was evident in the submissions we encountered.

One of the most interesting observations with each year’s Dummy Award, are the trends that transpire. From this session, the jury notes narrative approaches such as magical realism often incorporated into research-based projects, whereby, as described by jury member Francesca Todde, “the photographer’s position resembles that of a sleepwalker who moves partly within reality and partly processes it through the codes of dreams”; artists utilising photography as a form of healing or processing a trauma; research-driven, analytical works, were some of the thematic patterns we observed. Some concerns and topics endure as in previous years, such as those of the personal archive and family stories. While some projects addressed current politics, such as power and social structures (though not so much on technology), the jury were surprised to see much less of the conversation extending beyond personal anxieties and fears, and into a global context, compared to previous years.

Regarding the aesthetic and material presentation, the jury unanimously recognised the impressive evolution of the dummy over the years. Even though the dummy is a prototype, usually handmade in very few editions, many submissions demonstrated a strong connection between form and content and a high level of refinement, with many books completed in collaboration with other editors and designers. This raises a counterpoint, whereby these books were seen as “too polished and ready to publish, and therefore maybe not as expressive as a dummy could or should be” as jury member Tom Booth Woodger noted.

In the end, after hours of conversation and, at times, spirited debate, the jury are happy to present the final strong shortlist that we believe reflects and captures the richness of contemporary artistic practice and bookmaking today.

Julia Gelezova & the jury of the Dummy Award 2026