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Portraits of first nation Australian stock women win prestigious Taylor Wessing prize

Nov 10, 2021 by Alex Baker Leave a Comment

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Australian photographer David Prichard has won first prize in the 2021 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize for his series ‘Tribute to Indigenous Stock Women’, portraits of First Nations women who spent most of their working lives on cattle stations in Far North Queensland.

 

Gloria Campbell, Kurtijar Woman from the series Tribute to Indigenous Stock Women by David Prichard © David Prichard
Merna Beasley, Kurtijar Woman from the series Tribute to Indigenous Stock Women by David Prichard © David Prichard

Prichard’s series of portraits of the women depict them sitting or standing alone in a room. These women spent most of their lives in physically hard labour, working with livestock, riding horses and doing a wide range of other homestead chores. The series is culturally and socially significant given that the history of the First Nations stock women’s lives has largely been unrecorded.

L-R Mildred Burns, Gkuthaarn Woman; from the series Tribute to Indigenous Stock Women by David Prichard © David Prichard
Shirley Mary Ann McPherson, Kurtijar Woman; from the series Tribute to Indigenous Stock Women by David Prichard © David Prichard

Reflecting on the series, David said, “I have always been respectful of cultural and social sensitivities and subsequently built trust with the community, which led me to be invited to photograph the women. The project is not about me. I am only the vehicle for the women to tell their stories.”

Sudo San from the series Hakanai Sonzai by Pierre-Elie de Pibrac © Pierre-Elie de Pibrac
Miyashita San from the series Hakanai Sonzai by Pierre-Elie de Pibrac © Pierre-Elie de Pibrac
Yuki San from the series Hakanai Sonzai by Pierre-Elie de Pibrac © Pierre-Elie de Pibrac

The second prize went to French photographer Pierre-Elie de Pibrac, for his series ‘Hakanai Sonzai’, (‘I, myself, feel like an
ephemeral creature’). The series is portraits of people in Japan that show the photographer’s belief that his sitters’ forbearance in the face of adversity is rooted in the Japanese national culture of fatality and awareness of impermanence.

Takuya San from the series Hakanai Sonzai by Pierre-Elie de Pibrac © Pierre-Elie de Pibrac
Kishita San from the series Hakanai Sonzai by Pierre-Elie de Pibrac © Pierre-Elie de Pibrac
Sanae San from the series Hakanai Sonzai by Pierre-Elie de Pibrac © Pierre-Elie de Pibrac

In Fukushima, he photographed residents exiled from their contaminated homes following the nuclear disaster the city witnessed a decade ago. Other portraits were made in the former mining town Yubari, once known as the country’s capital of coal, now devastated by colliery closures and depopulation. Pibrac said, “Each portrait emanates from long discussions I had with my subjects about a painful event in their lives. In all the pictures I forbid any movement, as if they are trapped by their surroundings with no visible escape.”

David from the series Rosemary & Thyme by Katya Ilina. © Katya Ilina.

The winner of the third prize was Russian photographer Katya Ilina for her image ‘David’. The photograph is part of a series titled ‘Rosemary and Thyme’ and celebrates body positivity, questioning notions of masculinity and feminity. The male subjects were photographed in traditionally female poses found in Western art, exploring the idea that traditional Western depictions and expectations of masculinity can be just as damaging as those so-called feminine ideals imposed on women and people identifying as women. Speaking about her work, Ilina said, “I strive to show beauty in all its forms. I’m interested in things
that make us human in the modern world and everything I do comes from my personal experiences, one way or another.”

The National Portrait Gallery’s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2021 exhibition is open at Cromwell Place from 10 November 2021 until 2 January 2022 www.npg.org.uk/photoprize.

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Filed Under: news Tagged With: Award, portrait photography, Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize

About Alex Baker

Alex 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

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Alex 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

Dave 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 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 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.

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