Silver in Special/Others “Special” / 2026 / Special / Others “Special”

• Prize
  Silver in Special/Others “Special”
• Photographer
  Beate Walden, United States
• Date of Photograph
  January 7, 2026
• Studio
  Beate Walden
• Website
  http://beatewalden.com
• Instagram
  @beatewalden

A new gilded age has arisen — businessmen who wish to be kings, people reduced to pawns. 'Gilded' explores this chasm through a literal layer of glass.
Inside the palace, faces are rendered with photographic realism while clothing dissolves into cartoon rags — a deliberate obscenity that makes visible what polite society ignores. The gilded man stands elevated yet profoundly alone, unnoticed in his own ballroom.
The distance between his golden palace and reality has grown too great to cross.

Beate Walden, born in Frankfurt, Germany is recognized for her photographic composite artwork that blurs the boundaries between reality and imagination. She is included in the winning images at the IPA Awards, the LICC Awards as well as the PX3 Paris Photo Prize. Solo shows in Los Angeles and San Miguel de Allende.

Inspired by poetry, philosophy and the foundations of human nature, Beate Walden’s photonarratives blend beauty and truth with humor and dreamlike magic — a horizon into her unique visual alchemy.

Awards 1st Prize at International Photography Awards 2024.
2nd Prize at International Photography Awards 2024.
Honorary Mention at International Photography Awards 2024.
Finalist at LICC 2024.
Honorable Mention at Px3 Paris Photo Prize 2024.
Honorable Mention Photography Masters Cup "Americana' for 'Soda Machine'.