DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

A photo of human-like robot wins third place in portrait photography contest

Nov 16, 2017 by Dunja Djudjic Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize is a prestigious portrait photography contest. While it allows “‘portrait’ to be interpreted in its widest sense,” the rules state that the photo must involve humans. But this year, for the first time, one of the main prizes went to a portrait of a human-like robot.

Finnish photographer Maija Tammi won the third place and £2,000 for a portrait of a Japanese android named Erica. And while the judges admit it breaks the rules, they decided to “expand” the rules and accept the photo.

The official rules of the competition allow the photographers to interpret “portrait” in its widest sense, “of ‘photography concerned with portraying people with an emphasis on their identity as individuals.’” They read further that “all photographs must have been taken by the entrant from life and with a living sitter.” Despite these rules, Tammi’s photo was not only accepted in the competition, but also awarded among almost 6,000 submissions.

The human-like robot Erica is a creation of Hiroshi Ishiguro from Intelligent Robotics Laboratory in Osaka University, Japan. Maija Tammi got to photograph Erica during her residency in Japan. As she tells Evening Standard, she explicitly wrote in her application that the photo features a robot, because she wasn’t sure “how big or small the judges viewed the images.” She says it was a test “to see if the time was right.” And it seems it was, indeed.

Third Prize and the John Kobal New Work Award for a photographer under 35 is awarded to Maija Tammi from Finland for her portrait of a Japanese android called Erica. This is the first time that a shortlisted photographer has also won the John Kobal New Work Award. #PhotoPrize pic.twitter.com/10g5J4fBCw

— National Portrait Gallery (@NPGLondon) November 14, 2017

Despite the photographer’s explanation, the judges were able to see only the title of each portrait during the judging process. So, it was unclear whether the girl was a human or a robot. However, as the judges write, this ambiguity was “what made the portrait particularly compelling” and offered “a provocative comment on human evolution.”

This isn’t the first time the definition of “portrait” has been expanded. Earlier this year, Justine Varga won the $20,000 Olive Cotton Award for a portrait of her grandmother made from saliva and scribbles. It caused a lot of stir in the photographic community. As expected, Tammi’s portrait of a robot didn’t go without the criticism, either. Still, I think images like this make us redefine the familiar terms and think outside the borders we’ve known so far. This is why I like Tammi’s portrait just as I liked Varga’s.

Tammi explains that she “wanted to question what it is to be human and what it is to be alive.” In the article on Evening Standard, she asks: “What is being a human, what does it mean? To behave humanly? To have human genes? Or…?”  And with her portrait of Erica, she asks these questions, too.

Tammi’s photo won both the third prize and the John Kobal New Work Award for a photographer under 35, which is the first time in the contest’s history. All the photos will go on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London from 16 November 2017 to 8 February 2018.

[via Quartz, BBC, Evening Standard]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Unusual photo of snow monkey with human mask wins European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020 Photo of a kitchen court hearing wins the Our Times – Pandemic Perspectives contest This touching and trippy portrait wins The International Portrait Photographer of the Year 2021 Photographer wins $20,000 prize for a ‘portrait photo’ made of pen scribbles and saliva

Filed Under: news Tagged With: Competition, contest, Maija Tammi, photography competition, photography contest, portrait, robot

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Dear photographers, this is when you should NOT take photos
The entire start to finish process to make ultra large format wet plate photographs »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Ace your next portrait shoot with these composition tips
  • This is how to get photography clients on Instagram – even with few followers
  • “I prefer using smaller cameras” – an unorthodox take on size
  • A pigeon scares a meteorologist as it photobombs a live camera
  • Photographer files lawsuit against NFL receiver and teams after shoving incident

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy