A Diorama Map of London by Japanese photographer Sohei Nishino – nominated for this year’s Prix Pictet, widely considered to be the most prestigious prize for photography – will be offered for auction at Sotheby’s annual London sale of Photographs on 19 May 2017.

To create his striking diorama maps, Nishino assumes the role of the flâneur, wandering the city for days and months, capturing images from every angle. He sorts through his thousands of photos to reach his final selection, which he develops by hand in his dark room and painstakingly rearranges into an intricate and arresting composition. The resulting work is monumental in scale; Nishino subsequently digitally photographs the collage and presents it on a large scale, often up to 6 x 7 foot. Citing the 18th century Japanese cartographer Inō Tadataka as an influence, who also conducted his surveys on foot, Nishino’s dioramas are reminiscent of medieval and renaissance maps, with their distorted angles, mixture of viewpoints and the freedom and subjectivity of execution. Nishino’s first solo exhibition was held this year at SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), displaying his fascinating maps from across the world, including one of San Francisco, created especially for the exhibition.

Sotheby’s London sale of Photographs showcases some of the most exciting emerging contemporary talents in the field, alongside a selection of early twentieth century gems. The younger generation of artists include Alex Prager, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Pieter Hugo and Sohei Nishino, who was nominated for this year’s Prix Pictet. Works by well-known favourites Albert Watson, Irving Penn, Guy Bourdin and Peter Lindbergh will be offered together with Peter Beard’s distinctive photo-collages, and striking nudes by František Drtikol and Robert Mapplethorpe. The auction is timed to take place in conjunction with Photo London, the major international photography event now in its third edition, which will be held in the heart of the capital from 18-21 May.