How Sohrab Hura Redefined Art and Film, And Just Won Big

Sohrab Hura Wins The Eye Art & Film Award

Indian artist Sohrab Hura has been named the winner of the Eye Art & Film Prize 2025, a prestigious international honour that celebrates artists whose work blurs the boundary between visual art and film. With a grant of €30,000 (approximately $33,800) and a solo exhibition at Amsterdam’s Eye Filmmuseum, Hura’s career continues to ascend, and this award marks a turning point for contemporary art from India on the global stage.

Sohrab Hura Wins Eye Art & Film Prize 2025

The Eye Art & Film Prize, established in 2015, is administered by the Eye Filmmuseum and supported by Ammodo. The prize celebrates artists whose practice seamlessly weaves together film and visual art. Past winners include Hito Steyerl, Garrett Bradley, and Chia-Wei Hsu, all known for redefining storytelling in the digital age.

The 2025 jury praised Sohrab Hura for the “powerful way in which he captures today’s surreal reality in images.” They went on to state:

“What makes Hura so intriguing is that he does not confine himself to a single discipline. He moves effortlessly between still and moving images, between cinematic rhythms and photo collages. His creations exist somewhere between essay and encounter, between documentary and dream. In doing so, he sharply and at times poetically reveals the contradictions and surreal nature of contemporary life, particularly in the context of South Asia, while at the same time building a visual language that resonates across the world.”

The Unlikely Path to Art: From Economics to Emotion

Born in Chinsurah, India, in 1981, Sohrab Hura’s path to art wasn’t traditional. Initially studying economics, he earned his master’s degree from the Delhi School of Economics. His transformation began when his father gave him a Nikon FM10 camera during college, a pivotal moment that sparked his journey into photography.

What started as a coping mechanism became a full-fledged practice. As Hura put it, his early work was a “documentary in nature,” rooted in personal experiences and social realities.

Sohrab Hura’s international acclaim is growing rapidly. His recent solo and group exhibitions include the MoMA PS1 in New York (2025), Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town (2022), Huis Marseille in Amsterdam (2021), Experimenter in Mumbai, and the Peckham 24 in London. His works are now part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), India, and the Cincinnati Art Museum.

He is also a member of Magnum Photos, the renowned international photo cooperative.

Sweet Life: A Trilogy of Pain, Healing, and Visual Brilliance

One of Hura’s most intimate and acclaimed projects is his photobook trilogy titled Sweet Life, comprising:

• Life is Elsewhere (2015)
• A Proposition for Departure (2017)
• Look It’s Getting Sunny Outside!!! (2018)
  

These works chronicle his relationship with his mother, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was just 17. The trilogy embodies his deep exploration of mental health, family, and the emotional landscapes that connect personal trauma to larger societal questions.

A Practice Rooted in Complexity and Contrast

Hura’s projects blend film, photography, drawing, sound, and text into multimedia experiences. His work navigates themes such as social and political belonging, violence and inequality, religion and disinformation, cultural and climatic multiplicity in India, and the psychological impact of digital media

“Hura’s work is distinguished by its emotional intensity, formal innovation, and a bold approach to navigating the space between art and film,” the prize’s jurors noted.

Documentary Meets Surrealism: Key Works and Series

Sohrab Hura’s career has been defined by a fearless mix of the poetic and the political. Some of his most celebrated works include:

• “Land of a Thousand Struggles” (2005–06): A documentary series on grassroots political movements in rural India fighting for social security legislation.
• “Snow” and “The Song of Sparrows in a Hundred Days of Summer”: Photographic studies of India’s extreme seasons.
• “The Lost Head & The Bird” (2017): A surreal experimental film on power structures, which won multiple awards, including the Videonale Award of the Fluentum Collection and the NRW Award.
• “Bittersweet” (2019): Won the main prize at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen.
• “The Coast” (2020): Premiered at Berlinale 2021, and won the Aperture, Paris Photo Photobook of the Year Award.

Hura’s Philosophy: A Tree of Interconnected Stories

Sohrab Hura beautifully describes his artistic philosophy:

“His oeuvre is a tree whose branches reach toward the light, while the roots intertwine with those of other trees in a larger underground network.”

This metaphor encapsulates the interconnectedness of his works, where film, photography, drawings, books, and sound are not separate disciplines but interwoven elements of a larger narrative ecosystem.

“In Hura’s creations, the personal often goes hand in hand with a critical view of society.”

Why Sohrab Hura Matters Now More Than Ever

In an age dominated by fragmentation, algorithmic distortion, and hybrid media, Sohrab Hura is a visionary storyteller who refuses to stay within boundaries. The Eye Art & Film Prize 2025 recognises not just a body of work, but a radical redefinition of storytelling for the digital age.

“Hura is a leading artist who demonstrates how hybrid media facilitate new forms of storytelling. His work explores uncharted territories and redefines what it means to share stories in a time of fragmentation and uncertainty.”

From personal trauma to collective consciousness, from analogue photography to global acclaim, Sohrab Hura’s journey is a testament to the power of art to see, feel, and transform.

Image – An image from Life is Elsewhere. Courtesy – Sohrab Hura & Magnum Photos