© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020 Finalist
Mr M Walarmerpui was an accomplished and innovative Tiwi carver who lived in Pirlangimpi, a remote community on Melville Island in the Northern Territory. This image was taken three thousand kilometres from his home, as Mr M waited in a room – abuzz with preparations and anticipation – to stage a Pukamani Ceremony for the opening of the 2019 Tarnanthi Festival in Adelaide. Visiting Melville Island a few months earlier, I had observed the enormous power and stature that performing traditional dance gave the Tiwi Islanders I met. I wanted to capture that energy in a series of behind the scenes portraits, before and after the dance.
The 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.
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