Janelle Low

So my name is Janelle Low and I won the National Photographic Portrait Prize in 2013 with my portrait of Yhonnie and Indiana. I feel comfortable saying that prior to winning the prize I was basically nobody you know. I was completely obscure. I was just doing my own thing and after winning and the crazy media frenzy basically that happened afterwards I was getting recognized on the street.

I started working with Yhonnie through Dianne Tanzer Gallery and she approached me one night and just said look my my cat has been really unwell and she's been at the vet and I don't think she has long to go so could you come around and take a portrait of us together before before it's too late.

I love portraiture and I like to capture a person in sort of a moment of time and I like that portrait to have a real sense of that person and of our interaction together as well.

So the day that I found out that I'd won, I was actually getting ready to come up to Canberra. I generally treat myself to about one haircut a year the rest of the time I do it myself. So I was up the road last minute I was like no I should look nice I should look nice the Prime Minister's going to be there I should look nice and I was having my hair washed and I got the phone call and I was just sort of like I don't know what this number is I'll answer it just in case and I started crying pretty much straight away into the basin and the woman washing my hair was are you okay she's like did I get shampoo in your eyes. I mean no no it's fine it's fine it's fine I just found out that uh don't worry about it.

It's really hard to actually describe fully how much of an impact this has had on my life. It basically changed it completely and I just need to keep that in mind every day and just kind of go no this is don't stop because you're tired or whatever. It is like you just just have to keep doing it because you enjoy it. You could be doing so many other things right now you could be working in a, you could still be selling games at EB games. I could be still working in the back of a bakery you know just not enjoying myself but this is what I get to do now so I'm going to keep going at it and try not to stop.