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The Kraszna-Krausz
Foundation

Supporting excellence in publications about photography and the moving image

Since their inception in 1985 the Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards have been the UK’s leading prizes for books on photography and the moving image. Winning books are those which make original and lasting educational, professional, historical and cultural contributions to the field. With prize money of £10,000 divided equally between the winning title in the Photography category and the winning title in the Moving Image category, the Awards celebrate excellence in photography and moving image publishing.

The Kraszna-Krausz Foundation was created by Andor Kraszna-Krausz, the founder of Focal Press. Following his death, in 1989, Kraszna-Krausz’s estate became the Foundation which now bears his name. The Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards have previously been known as the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation Awards and the And/Or Book Awards. The Awards have been presented as part of Photo London at Somerset House and the Foundation has previously partnered with the BFI, the National Media Museum, Media Space and the Sony World Photography Awards.  In addition to the awards, the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation has periodically operated a programme for year-round, small-scale grants for the advancement of photography and the moving image in the UK.

The Foundation also presents an award recognising an Outstanding Contribution to Publishing and a Fellowship in Photography.

Andor Kraszna-Krausz (KK to his friends) was born in Hungary in 1904. After studying photography and cinematography at Munich University he began his publishing career in Germany in 1925 as the editor of Filmtechnik magazine. In 1937 he came to Britain as a refugee and a year later founded Focal Press, an influential specialist publishing house for books on photography. Focal Press publications were an immediate success, gaining a reputation for clear yet authoritative text and illustrations. During KK’s lifetime Focal Press published 1,200 books. It is now the world’s leading publisher of books about photography, film and television.