After nineteen years, the National Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Canberra is being held for the last time. The prize in 2026 attracted over a thousand entries from which the thirty finalists were selected. It has been a successful art prize built on the heritage of previous failed photographic portrait prizes, such as that at the Art Gallery of New South Wales between 2003 and 2006.
Nathan Beard, Mae Khong, 2026, pigment photographic print, frame: 62.9 × 43.2cm depth 3.8cm / Winner of the 2026 National Photographic Portrait Prize / Courtesy the artist and National Portrait Gallery, Australian Capital Territory
Since it was established in Canberra in 2007, the nature of photography and our understanding of portraiture have undergone significant changes. Also, other competitions, like the Percival Photographic Portrait Prize in Townsville, to some extent, now cater for a similar niche in the art prize field. Likewise, ideas on what constitutes a portrait have changed. The judges for this year’s prize in Canberra, Isobel Parker Philip, Gillian Raymond, and Mark Mohel, all from the NPG, have adopted a broad definition of portraiture. One of the finalists that they selected for this year’s Canberra show, Sammy Hawker, presents three chromatograms of three children. Here, on silver nitrate-soaked paper hair, placenta, and body tissue have been placed to produce beautiful, abstract blobs in place of traditional portraits.
Elise Derwin, Tina, 2025, pigment photographic print, sight: 89.1 × 58.9cm, frame: 93.2 × 63cm depth 4.9cm / Courtesy the artist and National Portrait Gallery, Australian Capital Territory
As part of the 2026 exhibition, the NPG has selected twenty-one photographic portraits from earlier exhibitions where we can trace an evolution in the understanding of portraiture from the beautiful, fairly conventional portraits in the early years, with photographs by Petrina Hicks and Hamish Ta-Mé, to more adventurous ideas on portraiture in more recent years, with the work of Christian Thompson, Tamara Dean, and Shelley Xue.
Michael Cook, Walkabout, 2025, pigment photographic print, frame: 125.1 × 164cm depth 6.1cm / Courtesy the artist and National Portrait Gallery, Australian Capital Territory
This year’s thirty finalists, with the exception of some direct, beautifully resolved portraits, including works by Saskia Wilson, Tajette O’Halloran, and Tace Stevens, present a series of diverse investigations into cultural, social, and gender identity.
Ingvar Kenne, David Howell, Actor, Sydney, Australia, 2026, pigment photographic print, image: 80 × 80cm, frame: 103.6 × 103.6cm / Courtesy the artist and National Portrait Gallery, Australian Capital Territory
Su Cassiano, Sisterhood, 2025, pigment photographic print, sight: 62.3 × 62.3cm, frame: 66.7 × 66.7cm depth 3.9cm / Courtesy the artist and National Portrait Gallery, Australian Capital Territory
The photograph that was awarded this year’s prize is Nathan Beard’s moving pigment photographic print of his Thai aunty, Mae Khong. She is shown sitting naked on a plastic stool after a shower when recovering from a medical episode. Her head is turned away from the viewer, so in this portrait we see only the back of her head.
An outstanding photograph in the show is Michael Cook’s monumental print, Walkabout. Stunning, absurd, and unforgettable, it places his long-term collaborator Joey Gala walking a pack of fashionable little dogs across Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing in the heart of Japan’s commercial district. The photograph of this man wearing Gucci, yet in bare feet, challenges a host of colonial assumptions about identity.
Madeline Bishop, On the chair, 2025, pigment photographic print, frame: 59.8 × 59.8cm depth 4cm / Courtesy the artist and National Portrait Gallery, Australian Capital Territory
Luke Austin, Aitor, 2025, pigment photographic print, image: 95 × 95cm, frame: 103.1 × 103.1cm depth 4cm / Courtesy the artist and National Portrait Gallery, Australian Capital Territory
The show is studded with brilliant and memorable photographs including Laki Sideris, Gretel Taylor’s The Falling, Tiarni Majid-Loban’s Blak & Bare, Luke Austin’s Aitor, Elise Derwin’s Tina, Madeline Bishop’s On the chair, and Su Cassiano’s Sisterhood.
It is understandable that the NPG may wish to shrug off the shackles of running a huge photographic competition together with the Darling Portrait Prize that it has had on its books since 2019. They promise that a new prize model will be launched early in 2027 that will have focus on bringing more works into the collection. In the meantime, we mourn the passing of the National Photographic Portrait Prize that for almost two decades has brought to public attention an array of emerging photographers as well as some of the established stars of the Australian photographic scene and provided a channel for hope for photographers to attain national recognition.
Tiarni Majid-Loban, Blak & Bare, 2025, type C photograph, frame: 80.9 × 58.5cm depth 1.8cm / Courtesy the artist and National Portrait Gallery, Australian Capital Territory
Emeritus Professor Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA works nationally and internationally as an art historian, art critic, and curator.
National Portrait Gallery
Until 11 October 2026
Australian Capital Territory
Warwick Art Gallery
21 November 2026 to 16 January 2027
Queensland
Glasshouse Port Macquarie
6 February to 29 March 2027
New South Wales
Unley Museum
16 April to 17 July 2027
South Australia
Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts & Culture Centre
21 August to 23 October 2027
Northern Territory
Gympie Regional Gallery
26 November 2027 to 5 February 2028
Queensland
Originally published in print – Art Almanac, October 2026 issue, pp. 38–44
