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Steve McQueen
Shortlisted: 1999

The use of extreme and unexpected camera angles has become a trademark of Steve McQueen's films. 'The idea of putting the camera in an unfamiliar position is simply to do with film language . Cinema is a narrative form and by putting the camera at a different angle . we are questioning that narrative as well as the way we are looking at things. It is also a very physical thing. It makes you aware of your own presence.'

Steve McQueen was born in London, England in 1969. Between 1989 and 1994 he studied at Chelsea School of Art, Goldsmiths College, and the Tisch School of the Arts. In 1999 McQueen won the Turner Prize for his exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, which revealed his 'original and uncompromising approach to film installation.'

This information has been taken from The Turner Prize: Twenty Years, by Virginia Button, Tate Publishing, 2003.

See also the transcript of the Steve McQueen live webchat in 1999.

View Steve McQueen in the Tate Collection