Pol Sangster wins Lakeside Collection Award 2026

We congratulate Pol Sangster on winning the 2026 Lakeside Collection Award. The award was presented by Colin Huizing, director of the Chabot Museum (Rotterdam) and Ali Keles, chair of the Lakeside Collection. The members of the jury also included Lieven Hendriks, Marloes Roeper & Annemarie van der Hoeven. As part of the prize, Pol will join the Lakeside artist-in-residence program at Depot Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. We’re excited to see how his work will grow during this next chapter.

Jury report: ”Pol Sangster’s black-and-white photography seems to take a modest place amidst the colourful and spatially expansive work of many of the other ‘Best of Graduates’ in the exhibition. Nevertheless, the detailed photography piqued the jury’s curiosity, and it soon became clear that there is a clear conceptual approach behind it. This is also evident in his earlier photography, where Sangster incorporates elements of the natural world he photographs into his prints. His work, which at first glance resembles ‘classical documentary photography’, is based on methodical research and flawless technical execution. Although the series of photographs of the 21 trees that survived the Rotterdam fire of 1940 is not yet complete, the jury can well imagine that the whole will be visually impressive and substantively meaningful. The jury regards Sangster’s approach and execution as distinctive and promising for the future of his artistic practice.”

Thank you to the Lakeside collection, their jury, and to everyone who joined us and made this award possible.⁠