National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

Venue: National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT
Location: King Edward Terrace, Parkes ACT 2600
1 Apr - 18 Jun, 2017
Web: https://nppp.portrait.gov.au/

The National Photographic Portrait Prize is an annual event promoting portraiture by contemporary Australian photographers, both amateur and professional. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the prize. This year the judges selected 49 portraits for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 exhibition from a record number of 3,000 entries.

“The works in this year’s prize – as the NPPP always seems to do – supply a fabulous snapshot of the scope of the portrait photography spectrum, as well as a vivid and complex picture of the communities we inhabit’, said Joanna Gilmour, Portrait Gallery Curator and NPPP judge.

Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay, 2016. © Gary Grealy. Winner, National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017. Richard Morecroft is a former ABC news presenter and an accomplished landscape photographer, with his work held in The Australian Parliament House Collection. Alison Mackay is a masterful painter – she has works in major collections and has been a finalist in many Australian art prizes, as well as running art workshops with numerous leading Australian artists. My portrait of Richard and Alison is about a partnership in life and work. The pair have co-authored books and created features for magazines; they also jointly and individually exhibit their art.
Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay, 2016. © Gary Grealy. Winner, National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017. Richard Morecroft is a former ABC news presenter and an accomplished landscape photographer, with his work held in The Australian Parliament House Collection. Alison Mackay is a masterful painter – she has works in major collections and has been a finalist in many Australian art prizes, as well as running art workshops with numerous leading Australian artists. My portrait of Richard and Alison is about a partnership in life and work. The pair have co-authored books and created features for magazines; they also jointly and individually exhibit their art.

The winner of the 2017 National Photographic Portrait Prize is Gary Grealy for his portrait of Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay. Grealy took home the $25,000 cash prize.

Highly Commended: John Benavente for Renaissance Rose and Brett Canet-Gibson for Mastura. The Highly Commended receives a CG277X screen valued at $4,000 from EIZO. The winner of the Art Handlers’ award receives $2,000 cash and the cost of shipping for their work upon the end of the exhibition, from International Art Services (IAS).

Art Handler’s Award: Tobias Titz for Bobby Bunungurr.

The judges for the 2017 competition were Joanna Gilmour, Curator, National Portrait Gallery; Dr Sarah Engledow, Curator, National Portrait Gallery; George Fetting, guest judge, photographer.

The People’s Choice Award closes on 1 June 2017. Vote for your favourite portrait here. 

Georgia and Angus (Australian Gothic), 2016. © Charlie White.
Georgia and Angus (Australian Gothic), 2016. © Charlie White.

 

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