Photobook dummy by Nikita Teryoshin (Germany), shortlisted for the Dummy Award 2026. Game of Chairs, subtitled Gloss and Misery of the Federal Party Conventions, presents behind-the-scenes views of German politics over the past ten years. It traces the rivalry between Angela Merkel and Friedrich Merz, dismantling the notion of perfect staging and questioning the political marketing, and the lack of substance, it seeks to conceal. The conventions of the CDU, SPD, Greens and The Left are above all occasions for producing images for the evening news: sets are built, tons of cables laid, sound and lighting controlled in detail. The photographer takes a mischievous delight in subverting this media self-staging of politics, which becomes truly visible once it is undermined. The Dummy Award, organised by the PhotoBookMuseum in Cologne, shortlisted 48 unpublished dummies from about 325 entries from more than 45 countries; the shortlist travels on a world tour of photography events and venues.