The National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects. The winner for 2023 is
Ruby (left view), 2022 by Shea Kirk
In making their decision, the judging panel - distinguished Australian photographer Tamara Dean; Director of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Photography Daniel Boetker-Smith; and our Senior Curator Joanna Gilmour – said the work was a celebration of photography. “While Shea makes the portrait look effortless, this is a masterful and technically complex work where the sitter has no self-consciousness. It is as if the artist and sitter are participating equally in the transaction.”
The Highly Commended Award goes to Renae Saxby for her portrait Bangardidjan, of Cindy Rostron on the road in remote Central Arnhem Land in the family muddikkang (car).
The Art Handlers' Award goes to Ugandan Ssebabi, 2022 by David Cossini.
The People's Choice Award goes to KAHA, 2022 by Bruce Agnew.
The judges found it very difficult to narrow down the selected 47 portraits from over 2,300 entries. We would like to thank everyone who submitted photographs for the Prize.
Prizes
The winner will nab a $30,000 cash prize from us AND photographic equipment courtesy of our Imaging Partner, Canon Australia. There are other wonderful prizes too, including Highly Commended supported by EIZO, an Art Handlers' Award thanks to IAS Fine Art Logistics, and the People’s Choice Award, generously supported by the Calvert-Jones Foundation.
