Ville Varumo Wins 2026 CENTER Personal Award for 'The Garden'
Ville Varumo, a Finnish photographer born in 1986, is now living in Copenhagen. He’s been awarded the 2026 CENTER Personal Award for his project, The Garden. This award recognizes outstanding photography that focuses on self-representation and underrepresented stories. With it, Varumo will take part in a group show at CENTER, showcase his work at Review Santa Fe, be featured in LENSCRATCH, attend professional development workshops, and have his work displayed in the CENTER Winners Gallery & Archive. Juror Marina Chao praised his work for its emotional depth and intriguing ambiguity. Created between 2022 and 2025, The Garden explores themes of urban life and transformation through a unique documentary style.
Key facts
- Ville Varumo received the 2026 CENTER Personal Award for his project The Garden.
- The award recognizes work engaging with self-representation and underrepresented experiences.
- The prize includes a group exhibition at CENTER, Review Santa Fe participation, publication in LENSCRATCH, professional development seminars, inclusion in the printed program guide, and the CENTER Winners Gallery & Archive.
- Marina Chao, curator at the Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW), served as juror.
- The Garden is an ongoing body of work made between 2022 and 2025.
- The project is arranged in five sequences and is part of a larger body of work taking the form of a book.
- Ville Varumo was born in 1986, is a Finnish self-taught photographer, and is based in Copenhagen.
- The Garden is Varumo's debut project.
Entities
Artists
- Ville Varumo
- Marina Chao
Institutions
- CENTER
- Center for Photography at Woodstock
- CPW
- LENSCRATCH
- Review Santa Fe
Locations
- Santa Fe
- United States
- Copenhagen
- Denmark
- Finland
- Woodstock