The 2025 Prix Camera Clara Goes to Randa Mirza for Her Series ‘Atlal’
Founded in 2012 by Joséphine de Bodinat-Moreno and supported by the Grésigny Foundation, the Prix Camera Clara was awarded this year to Randa Mirza for her original photographic work, Atlal (Ruins). This prize rewards a contemporary artist who uses a view camera and comes with a cash prize of €8,000 as well as the necessary resources to set up an exhibition. The jury for this edition was chaired by Dominique de Font-Réaulx, curator at the Louvre Museum, and included Guillaume Piens, general curator of Art Paris.
Born in Lebanon in 1978, Randa Mirza divides her life and work between Marseille and Beirut. A renowned visual artist, she explores the fields of photography, video, installation, and performance. Her work, which was rewarded by the PhotoFolio review at the Rencontres d’Arles in 2023, focuses on the symbolic and sociopolitical constructions of images, as well as the aftermath of the Lebanese civil war.
The Atlal (Ruins) series was shot between August and December 2024 in southern Lebanon, documenting villages bombed by the Israeli army with a view camera. Randa Mirza draws inspiration from the title Atlal, which in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry refers to ruins and rubble as fundamental poetic pillars. The artist observes that the destroyed houses are no longer perceived as ruins laden with meaning, but as mere materials. Using a large-format camera, the act of photography is intended as a ritual of repair and resistance, aiming to restore a presence to the rubble and reestablish historical continuity in the face of the violence of the conflict.
The Atlal series will be on display at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (François Mitterrand site) from December 16th, 2025, to March 29th, 2026. At the opening, we met Joséphine de Bodinat Moreno, Gilles Pécout, Marc Donnadieu, and many others.
Photos: Jean Picon
