National Photographic Portrait Prize call for entries now open

10 October 2016

The call for entries for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 is now open. Run by the National Portrait Gallery, the exhibition, now in its 10^th year, promotes the very best in contemporary photographic portraiture by professional and aspiring Australian photographers. The most outstanding portrait will win the major prize of $25,000.

On Albatross Island, 2015. © Matthew Newton.
Albatross Island is located off the north-western tip of Tasmania. It is home to 5,200 pairs of Shy Albatross, who are endemic to Tasmania. The Tasmanian government has maintained a long term monitoring program on the island for over thirty years. The program is currently overseen by marine biologist Dr Rachael Alderman, who has been visiting the island throughout the year for over a decade. After a day of banding and fitting miniature satellite tracking devices, her hands and forearms are bitten and bleeding. These are wounds of love; they mark an engaged scientist’s deep affection for an extraordinary bird. — On Albatross Island, 2015. © Matthew Newton. Albatross Island is located off the north-western tip of Tasmania. It is home to 5,200 pairs of Shy Albatross, who are endemic to Tasmania. The Tasmanian government has maintained a long term monitoring program on the island for over thirty years. The program is currently overseen by marine biologist Dr Rachael Alderman, who has been visiting the island throughout the year for over a decade. After a day of banding and fitting miniature satellite tracking devices, her hands and forearms are bitten and bleeding. These are wounds of love; they mark an engaged scientist’s deep affection for an extraordinary bird.

Works for the exhibition are selected from a national field of entries, and last year over 2,000 were received. The call for entries closes at midnight on 21 November 2016. Finalists will be announced in December, while the overall winner will be revealed prior to the exhibition opening in April 2017.

The exhibition of finalists will be displayed at the National Portrait Gallery from 1 April until 18 June 2017 before touring Australia throughout 2017 and 2018.

In 2016, Elizabeth Looker was the overall winner for her portrait, Life Dancers. The Highly Commended portrait was Asha on North Brother by Sean Davey. The inaugural Art Handler's Award went to On Albatross Island by Matthew Newton.

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Asha on North Brother, NSW, 2015. © Sean Davey.
Portrait of Asha Sarma resting on top of North Brother Mountain in Dunbogan, New South Wales. — Asha on North Brother, NSW, 2015. © Sean Davey. Portrait of Asha Sarma resting on top of North Brother Mountain in Dunbogan, New South Wales.