Film director Terry Gilliam presented the prize this evening at a ceremony at The Photographers' Gallery, who have run the contest since 1997.

The Prize is awarded to a photographer of any nationality for their significant contribution to the medium of photography through either an exhibition or publication, in Europe. Ristelhueber is recognised for her retrospective at the Jeu de Paume in Paris, which ran 20 January - 22 March last year, and a selection from which can be seen on the ground floor of the gallery in Soho, London until 17 April.

"For over 25 years, using photography and, more recently, moving image, Ristelhueber has investigated the impact of human conflict upon architecture and landscape in places such as Bosnia, France, Iraq, Lebanon and Kuwait," the gallery commented in a statement. "Often playing with an ambiguity of scale in her installations, Ristelhueber's work confounds traditional photographic genres and unsentimentally draws attention to the scars and traces we leave behind, addressing the essence of our human existence."

She was shortlisted from more than 100 submissions (nominated by experts including BJP editor Simon Bainbridge) alogside Anna Fox (UK), Zoe Leonard (US) and Donovan Wylie (UK), who each receive £3000.

This year's jury was made up of Oliva Maria Rubio (director of exhibitions, La Fàbrica, Spain), Gilane Tawadros (chief executive, Design and Artists Copyright Society, curator and writer); James Welling (artist); and Anne-Marie Beckmann (curator, Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Germany).

Brett Rogers, non-voting chair of the jury and director of The Photographers' Gallery said, on behalf of the jury: "Sophie Ristelhueber's fragmented images explore the terrain of the real and imagined, addressing urgent issues of trauma, loss, memory and conflict. Devoid of drama, her surgically precise images, radically installed, push the boundaries of the photographic medium."

The previous winners are: Paul Graham, UK (2009); Esko Männikkö, Finland (2008); Walid Raad /The Atlas Group, Lebanon (2007); Robert Adams, USA (2006); Luc Delahaye, France (2005); Joel Sternfeld, USA (2004); Juergen Teller, Germany (2003); Shirana Shahbazi, Iran (2002); Boris Mikhailov, Ukraine (2001); Anna Gaskell, USA (2000); Rineke Dijkstra, The Netherlands (1999); Andreas Gursky, Germany (1998); and Richard Billingham, UK (1997)

The exhibition will tour to Frankfurter Kunstverein in Germany, showing 13 May - 25 July.

For more information on the prize and current exhibition, click here.