© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2012 Finalist
'The Mourners' is a series of portraits documenting the ritual of wearing black as a signifier of perpetual mourning. In remembrance of those they have lost, all that sit for a portrait wear black daily, for the rest of their lives. The controlled environment of a travelling studio replaces existing backdrops of nursing homes and living rooms. Stripped back to the point where only the faintest trace of the sitter's surroundings remains, the portrait brings the viewer to the periphery of an ultimately private space. Deflecting the unflinching eye of the camera with an averted gaze, the women are absorbed by the void that is black.
The National Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition is selected from a national field of entries that reflect the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.
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