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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

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阿谊 (ah Yi), 2023

Shelley Xue

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024 Art Handlers' Award

pigment photographic print on paper (frame: 91.8cm x 61.9cm depth 4.3cm)
阿谊 (ah Yi), 2023

Shelley Xue
born China 1995, Australia from 2018

阿谊 (ah Yi) 2023
pigment photographic print on paper

‘After three years apart, three precious weeks reunited me with Mum. I felt I’d never truly seen her as herself; as her anxieties, fears, regrets and affections had been shielded from view, so that she could become the mother of mine. Yet, for the first time, tear-stained, she told me stories I had never known. She exuded childlike joy among orchids and succulents. Her hand sought mine on our walks. You’ve loved as much as you can, Chunyi. And I’ve started to see that now, Mother.’

Naarm/Melbourne-based Shelley Xue is an artist from Guangdong, China whose photographic project Unknown solitariness is a visual exploration of human and non-human aloneness.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024
(More information, View all 34 photos)

Fragility
Stripe search
Tom Polo
witness

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Alexis with moon, 2024 Amos Gebhardt

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024

Previous exhibition, 2024

The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024 celebrates established and emerging artistic talent from across the country.
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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