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Photography and mortality

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Jan Carroll 2019

The Last Picture Show (Lewis Morley and Henry Talbot)

Reveries

Featuring works by Australian and New Zealand photographers from the late 1970s up to the present day Reveries focuses on images made in the presence of or consciousness of death.

In the mirror: self portrait with Joy Hester

Photography and filming

Plan your visit

As long as it for personal use, you can take photos and videos of any of the portraits (except the ones with the No Photos icon).

Mark Strizic

A Journey in Photography

Portrait photography by John Elliott

This exhibition traces the creative output of nearly 50 years by one of Australia's landmark living photographers.

Thousand Mile Stare

Portrait Photography from the Collection

Thousand mile stare provides a unique portrait of people of rural Australia

Depth of Field

Over the last five years the National Portrait Gallery has developed a collection of portrait photographs that reflects both the strength and diversity of Australian achievement as well as the talents of our photographers.

Portrait of Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke (Sass & Bide)

Photography

Google Arts and Culture

Learning resources

The images and themes in this resource are designed to provide inspiration and to encourage critical thinking. For Year 11 and 12 students.

Nigel Brennan

Nigel Brennan studied photography at Griffith University and works primarily in photo-documentary.

1 portrait in the collection

Ellen Dahl

Ellen Dahl (b. 1968) grew up in Hammerfest in Norway and studied photography at the Brooks Institute of Photography in California.

1 portrait in the collection

Dr Elisa deCourcy

Dr Elisa deCourcy (b. 1986) is an art historian, specialising in the nineteenth-century history of photography.

1 portrait in the collection

Terence Bogue

Terence Bogue specialises in the photography of art and craft for artists, galleries and museums.

1 portrait in the collection

Lindy Lee - Birth and Death, 2006 by Robert Scott-Mitchell

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2007

Photography is the most pervasive and popular medium for portraiture and makes a natural fit with the Gallery, being a natural extension of the Gallery's longstanding commitment to photography as a contemporary portrait medium.

Peter Fisher

Peter Fisher has been one of Australia's foremost commercial photographers over the past 25 years.

1 portrait in the collection

Rob Tuckwell

Rob Tuckwell is a Sydney based photographer with a specialisation in architectural photography.

3 portraits in the collection

Marian Drew

Previous exhibition, 2020

Brisbane-based Marian Drew (b. 1960) is a photographic artist and Adjunct Associate Professor in Photography at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait Allsorts

In Gallery Seven

Offering portraiture in all its flavours: painting, photography, drawing, textiles, printmaking and sculpture, this exhibition is a feast for minds and eyes.

Gordon Furlee Brown

Gordon Furlee Brown, whose career is not documented in standard texts on Australian photography or art, exhibited in the Victorian Salon of Photography in 1931.

3 portraits in the collection

Anthony Browell

Anthony Browell, photographer, was born in England and studied at the Brighton Art College and the Ealing Art School before becoming a freelance photographer.

9 portraits in the collection

Sean Slattery

This is Davide Di Giovanni and he was a principal dancer for the Sydney Dance Company for six or seven years. He got in touch with me to do some video work together and he was just so amazing.

Returning the Gaze

Shannon May Powell

Mihail Tsikas

Mihail Tsikas is a photojournalist with the Australian Associated Press (AAP), based in Canberra covering Federal politics.

1 portrait in the collection

Douglas Thompson

Douglas Thompson (b. 1932) was born in Stanthorpe, QLD and served in the RAAF as a photographer and photography teacher between 1950 and 1956.

5 portraits in the collection

Cross-cultural wedding

John Benavente

David Rosetzky

David Rosetzky (b. 1970) is a Melbourne-based contemporary artist working across photography, video and installation.

2 portraits in the collection

Rod McNicol

'Life and Times'

Portrait story

Echoing 19th-century photography, Rod McNicol's portraits give us a chance to look quietly at the human condition.

Brett Canét-Gibson

Brett Canét-Gibson (b. 1965) has a 25-year career as an image maker, Creative Director, writer and communicator in portrait, still life and landscape commercial and editorial photography, graphic design and visual arts.

3 portraits in the collection

About R. Ian Lloyd

Previous exhibition, 2022

R. Ian Lloyd was born in Canada, studied photography in the U.S., and first arrived in Australia in 1975.

WHO ARE YOU

Australian portraiture

Featuring 130 works across painting, film, photography, screen printing, sculpture, and then some – it explores our inner worlds, outer selves, intimacy, isolation, celebrity and more.

Express Yourself

Previous exhibition, 2018

This exhibition celebrates Australians whose unique life experiences symbolise social and cultural forces. Uncompromising individuality defines them. The portraits are drawn from the National Portrait Gallery’s collection of contemporary photography and drawing.

Dave Graney and Clare Moore

'Why would you want to listen to pub rock?'

Portrait story

Dave Graney and Clare Moore discuss music, photography and bandoleros of meat.

Tony Kearney

Tony Kearney, a self-described amateur photographer, is a full time director of Designmakers Pty Ltd, a leading industrial design consultancy based in Adelaide.

3 portraits in the collection

Montalbetti + Campbell

Canadian-born photographic team Denis Montalbetti and Gay Campbell arrived in Australia in 1988.

14 portraits in the collection

Gurkirat, 2009

by Rod McNicol

Shea Kirk

So this portrait here is part of a much larger series I've been shooting off and on for a number of years now.

Athol Shmith

Athol Shmith (1914-1990) was a professional photographer specialising in portraiture, branching into the fashion and advertising fields after 1936.

1 portrait in the collection

Alana Landsberry

Alana Landsberry (b. 1982) is a Sydney-based professional photographer who specialises in portrait, lifestyle, beauty and fashion photography.

2 portraits in the collection

Mark Strizic

Mark Strizic (1928-2012) was born in Berlin and migrated to Australia via Croatia in 1950.

12 portraits in the collection

Robert McFarlane

Robert McFarlane (1942–2023), photographer, was born in Glenelg, South Australia.

31 portraits in the collection

Jessica Hromas

Jessica Hromas is a Sydney-based freelance photographer specialising in portraiture, corporate photography, photojournalism and arts coverage.

2 portraits in the collection

Luther Cora

Winner, National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

Yeah, so it's my daughter. So, I shot this last year, I think on the Gold Coast, we had a little lockdown period, couple of lockdown period.

Gary Grealy

Self Identities - Making Connections

Gary Grealy on his portrait photography.

Rose’s afternoon delight, 2009 by Rose Hammer

Headspace 9

Headspace 9 is an exhibition of outstanding student self portraits (paintings, drawings, printmaking, photography and media arts) by Year 10, 11 and 12 school students that will engage a national audience.

Christopher Morris

Christopher Morris studied photography at Griffith University in Brisbane in the mid 1990s, during which he photographed many of the leading names in contemporary music including U2, Oasis, Pearl Jam, The Sex Pistols and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

1 portrait in the collection

Ruth Maddison

Ruth Maddison began taking photographs in the mid-1970s and exhibited her Christmas Holiday with Bob’s Family – a series of hand-coloured, snapshot-style images mimicking scenes from a family photo album – at Ewing Gallery in Melbourne in 1979.

1 portrait in the collection

Train travellers, 2012

by John Van-Den-Broeke

Reed Hutchinson

Reed Hutchinson has long worked in the campus photography service at UCLA..

1 portrait in the collection

Martin Philbey

Martin Philbey (b. 1962) is a Melbourne-based photographer who has amassed an archive of 100,000 images over his twenty-year career.

4 portraits in the collection

Jon Lewis

More about In the flesh artists

Jon Lewis (1950-2020) was born in Maryland, USA, and came to Australia in 1951.

3 portraits in the collection

Petrina Hicks

Petrina Hicks has exhibited widely throughout Australia, and internationally, including Germany, Spain, France, Italy, USA and Japan. Her work was selected for screening in the 17th International Videobrasil (2011) and featured in Pingyao International Photography Festival, China (2010).

Portrait 55

Summer 2016-2017

Explore convict art, photography by Ruth Hollick and Collier Schorr, an interview with neurosurgeon Charlie Teo, portraiture on money, and more!

James Horan

Irish-born James Horan (b. 1976) is an editorial and advertising photographer whose many clients include banks, hotel chains, medical supply companies, museums and charities such as The Salvos and The Smith Family.

1 portrait in the collection

Chris Budgeon

Chris Budgeon, born and educated in Canada, has lived in Australia since 1983 and has forged an outstanding career in the advertising industry, winning a number of industry awards, including selection in Lurzer's Archive 'top 200 advertising photographers World Wide' in 2004/2005, 2006/2007 and 2008/2009.

1 portrait in the collection

Heidi Margocsy

Perrin is an amazing amazing woman, and what I wanted to do with this particular sitting was create something raw and stripped back.

Susan Stitt ACS

Susan Stitt ACS has worked extensively in the international film and commercial industries, working on feature films, and shooting prestigious campaigns for over 30 years.Stitt has specialised in the intricacies of lighting and exploring the possibilities of colour.

1 portrait in the collection

Petrina Hicks

Learning resource archive

Petrina Hicks (b. 1972) is a photographer whose work interrogates female identity and the representation of women throughout history.

3 portraits in the collection

Paul Kelly

A companion to our 2013 exhibition Paul Kelly & The Portraits. For Year 7 to Year 12 students.

Portrait 56

Autumn 2017

Browse the history of the National Photographic Portrait Prize, Cayce Zavaglia's embroidered portraiture, and modern wedding photography!

Sarah Rhodes

Sarah Rhodes (b. 1974) studied fine art and psychology and later majored in journalism and photography, gaining her arts degree and a master’s in publishing from the University of Sydney.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 23

March - May 2007

This issue of Portrait Magazine features the Reveries: On Photography and Mortality exhibition, Peter Cosgrove, Martin Sharp, Terence Tao and more.

Nathan Kelly

Nathan Kelly (b. 1976), photographer, studied fine arts at the Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney before being named as one of Australia’s top 30 photography graduates by Australian Commercial Photography magazine.

3 portraits in the collection

Hoda Afshar

Hoda Afshar was born Tehran, Iran in 1983. She completed a BFA (Photography) in Tehran, and PhD in Creative Arts at Curtin University.

1 portrait in the collection

Toni Wilkinson

Toni Wilkinson emigrated with her family from London to Perth in the early 1970s.

6 portraits in the collection

Rennie Ellis

Rennie Ellis (1940–2003), photographer and writer, began taking photographs while travelling around the world in the 1960s.

21 portraits in the collection

Hari Ho

Hari Ho left his native Malaysia as a young man to travel and work throughout the US, Europe and Asia.

2 portraits in the collection

William Yang

Recorded 2022

Matthew Sleeth

Matthew Sleeth began his photographic career with a number of monographs including Roaring Days, The Bank Book and Tour of Duty.

2 portraits in the collection

Janice Wakely, 1959

Helmut Newton

Florence Milson, Harold Cazneaux

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Janice McIllree 2007

Harold Cazneaux, 1919

Portrait, bromoil photograph

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

James Tylor

James Tylor (b. 1986) is an Australian multi-disciplinary contemporary visual artist.

1 portrait in the collection

Athol Shmith, 1985

Michel Lawrence

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Illuwanti Ken, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Taylor Cooper, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Nyurpaya Kaika Burton OAM, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Mantuwa Tjungarra George, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Imatjala Curley, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Tiger Yaltangki, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Puna Yanima, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Kunmanara (Ngilan) Dodd, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Ingrid Treacle, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Rita Rolley, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Maringka Burton, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Alec Baker, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Kathy Maringka, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Yaritji Tjingila Young, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Betty Muffler, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Sammy Dodd, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Mary Katatjuku Pan, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Betty Kuntiwa Pumani, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Linda Puna, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Hughie Cullinan, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Stanley Douglas, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Max Loudon

Max Loudon was photographic assistant to, and darkroom manager for, Athol Shmith and John Cato before becoming a photographer for Rolling Stone Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Matjangka Nyukana Norris, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Litja Brown, 2021

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2022

Nick Cave, 1973 (printed 1991)

Ashley Mackevicius

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006

Heide Smith

Heide Smith took up photography as a young girl in Germany in 1948, when her uncle gave her a Zeiss Ikon camera.

3 portraits in the collection

Brook Andrew

Wiradjuri artist Brook Andrew (b. 1970) studied art at the University of Western Sydney and the University of New South Wales.

2 portraits in the collection

Narelle Autio

Narelle Autio (b. 1969) went to art school in South Australia intending to become a painter, but ‘somehow ended up’ with a camera.

1 portrait in the collection

Larry Clark

Tough & Tender

Larry Clark's black-and-white documentary images of young outsiders reveal raw feelings.

Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie

Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie, 1887

Frederick Woodhouse

Portrait, oil on canvas

Purchased 2008

Julia Margaret Cameron

Julia Margaret Cameron was of the most important photographers of the nineteenth century.

1 portrait in the collection

Lauren Sutton and Poppy

My name's Lauren and this is Poppy, and this is obviously a self portrait of us taken last year in August when we sort of went into lockdown in Canberra.

Fiona Scott-Norman, 2011

by Miles Standish

Julian Smith

Julian Smith, surgeon and photographer, came to Australia with his family from England at the age of three.

2 portraits in the collection

Dr John Janson-Moore

Faces of the Twentieth Century

Based in Sydney, John Janson-Moore (b. 1968) is a visual artist, photographer and filmmaker, working across a broad spectrum of media, encompassing portraiture, documentary and conceptual art.

2 portraits in the collection

Karsh

Previous exhibition, 1998

Yousuf Karsh - the most famous portrait photographer in the world - has photographed the statesmen, artists, literary and scientific figures who have defined the 20th century and shaped our lives, In this, his 90th year, the National Portrait Gallery is thrilled to present an exhibition of Karsh's photography of 20th century figures.

Andrew Quilty

In Galleries Four, Five and Six

Andrew Quilty left school after completing Year 10 in 1999, and went to study photography at TAFE, graduating in 2004.

1 portrait in the collection

This is my place

Previous exhibition, 2021

An antidote to the months spent in isolation at home, This is my place brings a fresh, intimate focus to the places that define who we are – our spiritual homes, habitats and workspaces.

Garrett Huxley

Garrett Huxley (b. 1973) was born in Melbourne and raised on the Gold Coast.

3 portraits in the collection

Penny Tweedie

Aboriginal people and their culture have been the focus of much of Penny Tweedie's photography during the last period of her career.

47 portraits in the collection

Will Huxley

Will Huxley (b. 1982) was born in Bath, England, emigrating with his family at the age of seven to grow up in the suburbs of Perth.

3 portraits in the collection

Elizabeth Walford, c. 1873

Portrait, pastel over photographic image on paper on canvas

Gift of the Estate of Leslie Walford AM 2013

William Walford, c. 1873

Portrait, pastel over photographic image on paper on canvas

Gift of the Estate of Leslie Walford AM 2013

Tarryn Gill

Artists and Collectives

Tarryn Gill is a Boorloo/Perth-based multidisciplinary artist who works across the mediums of sculpture, installation, photography, film, drawing, set and costume design, and performance.

Sue Ford

Previous exhibition, 2008

Sue Ford (née Winslow, 1943–2009), photographer, filmmaker and photo-media artist, grew up in the beachside suburbs of Melbourne and became interested in photography while on holiday in Europe at age 17.

2 portraits in the collection

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2008

At the end of 2007 the National Portrait Gallery launched the inaugural National Youth Self Portrait Prize and artists aged between eighteen and twenty-five were invited to submit self portraits using a variety of media including drawing, painting, printmaking and traditional or digital photography.

E.O. Hoppé

Portrait, albumen silver photograph

Emil Otto Hoppe (1878–1972) is considered one of the most important and influential portrait and documentary photographers of the twentieth century.

2 portraits in the collection

The First Ministry under Responsible Government in New South Wales

The First Ministry under Responsible Government in New South Wales, 1856

Freeman Brothers

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

Nikki Toole

Scottish-born photographer Nikki Toole (b. 1965) studied film and photography in London and Edinburgh before moving to Melbourne.

3 portraits in the collection

Alan Mitchell

Portraits & Other Stories

Alan Mitchell is based in Melbourne and specialises in room set photography.

4 portraits in the collection

Atong Atem

Artists and Collectives

Atong Atem is an Ethiopian-born, South Sudanese artist and writer living in Narrm/Melbourne. Her work explores migrant narratives and postcolonial practices in the African diaspora.

Sam Haskins

Previous exhibition, 2023

Haskins is known for his poetic combinations of images and this exhibition of 'extended' portraits builds on this approach.

Portrait23: Identity

Portraiture. Not as you know it. We invite you to stretch, push, resist and transcend portraiture’s conventional constraints.

Confide in Me

Magazine article by Sarah Hill, 2002

This article examines the photographic portraiture of Polly Borland.

Eden, 2011

by Arianne McNaught

Richard Daintree

Failing as a prospector, Richard Daintree (1832-1878) started work as an assistant geologist in 1854, and returned to London to study assaying and metallurgy; while abroad, he became interested in photography.

2 portraits in the collection

Robin Sellick

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite photograph on card

Robin Sellick (b. 1967), photographer, is well known for his distinctive portraits of Australian actors, musicians, politicians and athletes.

17 portraits in the collection

Her Majesty, 1860

John J. Mayall

Purchased 2020

Renaissance Rose, 2016

by John Benavente

Portrait, gilcée print on paper

Smalltown Boy (Surfers Paradise), 2018

The Huxleys

Purchased 2021

Smalltown Boy (Perth), 2018

The Huxleys

Portrait, gilcée print on paper

Purchased 2021

Style Over Substance, 2020

The Huxleys

Portrait, single channel moving image, 16:9, colour, sound, 6 minutes and 46 seconds

Purchased 2021

Andrew George Scott, alias Captain Moonlite, c.1879 attributed to Charles Nettleton

The Portrait Gallery

Previous exhibition, 2013

Photography played a significant role in the circulation of messages about law and order, and in the creation of sensation and celebrity.

Dovima with elephants, evening dress by Dior, Cirque d'Hiver, Paris, August 1955 by Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon People

American photographer Richard Avedon produced portrait photographs that defined the twentieth century. Developed in partnership with the Richard Avedon Foundation in New York, the first Australian exhibition of Avedon’s bold portraits reveals the glamour and drama of his iconic artistic work.

Robert Fielding

Robert Fielding (b. 1969) is a contemporary artist of Pakistani, Afghan, Western Arrente and Yankunytjatjara descent, who lives in Mimili Community in the remote Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.

24 portraits in the collection

Peter English

Peter English was an RAAF photographer from the early 1950s onward, taking air and ground photographs in Australia and Malaya.

1 portrait in the collection

What does 'portraiture mean at the end of the 20th century? At the outset of building a national portrait collection it seems an appropriate question to investigate.

Max Dupain, Artamon, Sydney, 1979 (printed 2000)

The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001

Gav & Ray, 2007

by Richard Walker

Stuart Spence

Previous exhibition, 2019

Stuart Spence (b. 1960) born in Geelong, Victoria, established his career in Sydney during the 1980s and 1990s, as a magazine photographer specialising in celebrity portraiture.

2 portraits in the collection

Greta In Her Kitchen, 36 weeks, 2018 by Alana Holmberg

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Mother and child, 2016

by Terry Hartin

R. Ian Lloyd

Ian Lloyd was born in Canada and studied photography at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and Brooks Institute in California.

5 portraits in the collection

Jaime Murcia

Apart from his own photographic practice, Jaime Murcia has worked as a leading commercial photographer over the past 15 years.

1 portrait in the collection

Joachim Froese

Photographer Joachim Froese was born in Montreal, Canada, grew up in Germany and migrated to Australia in 1991.

1 portrait in the collection

Conditions of entry

Plan your visit

Information about visiting the Gallery.

Allissa Oughtred

Portrait, type C photograph from an original negative on paper

Allissa Oughtred (b. 1981) is a Melbourne-based portrait and fashion photographer.

1 portrait in the collection

Hedda Morrison, 1941 (printed 2004)

Alastair Morrison

Gift of the artist 2004

Grant Mudford

Grant Mudford (b. 1944) is a Sydney-born, Los Angeles-based photographer renowned for his large-format, abstract depictions of the urban landscape and built environment.

1 portrait in the collection

I've been meaning to ...

Greg Adams

Rennie Ellis

Aussies All

Rennie Ellis: Aussies All is a celebration of the life and work of the late Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.

Tom Goldner

The portrait's of my mother, Catherine, and the photograph was taken in a family home that we had and my mother was relocating to Tasmania.

Dominique Issermann

Dominique Issermann (b. 1946), a fashion, advertising and portrait photographer known for her striking black and white images, was born in Paris and became interested in photography as a teenager.

1 portrait in the collection

Paul Gosney

Portraits from prime time

Paul Gosney, a Sydney-based photographer has worked for eighteen years photographing people, lifestyle, food, still life, interiors and architecture.

1 portrait in the collection

Ryder Jack Susman in a Williamstown hairdresser by Abigail Varney

PROMO

Previous exhibition, 2014

This exhibition goes behind-the-scenes and into the spotlight with professional photographers and the stars of Australian television, music and comedy. Whether negotiating the logistics of a big publicity shoot or quietly capturing moments on set during filming, the photographers' stories are intriguing and compelling.

Polly Borland

Previous exhibition, 2012

Polly Borland, born in Melbourne in 1959, began her photographic career in Australia before moving to London in 1989.

23 portraits in the collection

Ingvar Kenne

Citizen

Swedish-born Australian photographer, Ingvar Kenne, captures both individuality and shared human experience in his ongoing portrait project Citizen.

The silent gardener

Guy Lamothe

William Burman

William Insull Burman came to Victoria in 1853 and worked as a painter and decorator before establishing his own photography business in Carlton in about 1863.

1 portrait in the collection

Untitled 4539, 2010

by Paul Foley

Cary Fukunaga and Jamie Bell, 2010

by Mia Wasikowska

David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings

Max Dupain OBE

Max Dupain OBE (1911–1992) was a pioneering modernist photographer.

98 portraits in the collection

Earl Carter

Earl Carter completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Photography at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology before embarking on his a freelance photographic career in 1981.

1 portrait in the collection

David Potts

David Potts (1926-2012) was a documentary photographer with a career spanning more than fifty years.

3 portraits in the collection

Deel, 2018

by Stefanie King

Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke, c. 1976 (printed 2017)

Robert McFarlane

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2017

Tara Jade Samaya

Pippa Samaya

Anne Zahalka

Photo media artist Anne Zahalka was born in Sydney in 1957, following her parent’s migration to post-war Australia.

19 portraits in the collection

Simon Griffiths

Simon Griffiths has been acclaimed in numerous publications as Australia's leading food and garden photographer.

1 portrait in the collection

Lewis Morley

Lewis Morley (1925–2013) established his reputation as one of the key British photographers of the 1960s and is known for his iconic image of a nude Christine Keeler straddling an Arne Jacobsen chair.

50 portraits in the collection

Margaret Michaelis

Magazine article by Kate Gollings, 2004

Margaret Michaelis, photographer, was born Margarethe Gross, of Polish Jewish parents at Dzieditz, near Bielsko.

2 portraits in the collection

Colin Madigan and Robert Hughes, Canberra

Three Dimensional

Kate Gollings describes an encounter between three generations of Australian photographers; David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings.

Krystal Seigerman

The photograph was a brief, candid moment, which unfolded into a portrait. Peter and I were in Silverton, NSW, chatting as our students explored the town. The weak afternoon light suddenly became dramatic and defined, so I asked Peter if I could take his portrait.

The Huxleys

Will Huxley grew up in the suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, and Garrett Huxley was raised on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

3 portraits in the collection

Family Fun, 2012

by Sarah Bannister

An exhibition of sporting photographs by Anderson & Low

The Athlete

Previous exhibition, 2000

The Athlete explores the sporting life well beyond the superficial image of the human physique

Living Memory

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2021

Previous exhibition, 2021

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Three ways to look at a photograph

NPPP 2019 exhibition essay

Archived media releases 2016

Dr Christopher Chapman, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2019 Prize.

Tough & Tender Media Release

14 July 2016

Photographs from internationally acclaimed artists Robert Mapplethorpe, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Collier Schorr and Chris Burden along with contemporary Australian artists, Rozalind Drummond and Warwick Baker will call the National Portrait Gallery home during our extraordinary winter exhibition Tough and Tender.

Robert, 2010

by CJ Taylor

The photographer's shadow (Olive Cotton and Max Dupain)

The photographer's shadow (Olive Cotton and Max Dupain), c. 1935 (printed 1999)

Olive Cotton

Purchased 2010

Vishwananda (Graham), 2013

by Lucia Rossi

Barbara McGrady

Barbara McGrady, born 1950 in Mungindi, New South Wales is a Gomeroi (Gamilaraay)/Murri/Yinah woman, and is recognised as Australia's first Indigenous photojournalist.

1 portrait in the collection

Solomon Studios

Saul Solomon (1836–1929) had a studio in Main Road, Ballarat from 1857 to 1862, and worked in partnership with William Bardwell at 29 Sturt Street, Ballarat until 1874.

1 portrait in the collection

Ben Chifley, n.d.

Gift of Danina Dupain Anderson 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Rong Rong

Featured Artists

Born Li Zhirong 1968, Zhangzhou, Fujian Province. Lives and works in Beijing.

Keith Miller, early 1950s (printed 2008)

Archived media releases 2019

Purchased 2008

Winner announced for National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019

22 February 2019

From an outstanding field of more than 3,000 entries, culminating in a shortlist of 39 exceptional finalists, the Winner and Highly Commended entries for this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize have been named.

Famous

Karin Catt Portraits

Australian photographer Karin Catt has photographed world leaders, a host of rock stars and Oscar-winning compatriots Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Cate Blanchett.

Brian McInerney

Brian McInerney, professional photographer, was a young assistant photographer at Channel Seven in Sydney in the 1960s.

2 portraits in the collection

Marawa The Amazing

Jo Duck

Mark Tedeschi

Family, friends, fanatics and foes (and everything in between!)

Mark Tedeschi KC, the New South Wales Crown Prosecutor, has had twelve solo photographic exhibitions and has participated in over 20 joint exhibitions in Australia, Italy, France and the USA.

1 portrait in the collection

Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (detail), 2006 (printed 2020) © Peter Brew-Bevan

Australian Love stories

Previous exhibition, 2021

Reconnect and reflect with our new major exhibition, Australian Love Stories (in real life!) as we explore love, affection and connection in all its guises.

Between Light and Shadow

Portraits by Stuart Campbell

Previous exhibition, 2011

The late Australian photographer Stuart Campbell produced superb photographs of Australian actors of stage and screen.

A self-portrait in focus

Magazine article by Kim Appleby, 2002

In her self-portrait, Tracey Moffatt presents herself as her work.

Precinct 9, 2018

Christophe Canato

Michael Riley

Michael Riley (1960–2004), a Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi photographer, filmmaker and video-artist, was one of Australia's most influential Aboriginal contemporary artists.

15 portraits in the collection

H Parker Rolfe

H Parker Rolfe was a professional photographer and teacher who operated from various premises in Philadelphia from the 1890s to the 1910s.

6 portraits in the collection

The steam apprentice, 2009

by Gary Steer

Kerry Dundas

Previous exhibition, 2010

Kerry Dundas, son of artist Douglas Dundas, gained an interest in photography as a student at Sydney Grammar school.

8 portraits in the collection

The Precasso Armoured Butterfly, 2010 by Alicia Mozqueira

Headspace 10

Self/reflections

Headspace 10 is a national, secondary school art exhibition from all states and territories exploring the theme, Self/reflections, through portraiture.

John Gollings

John Gollings made his first photographs and received darkroom tuition at age eleven; he later studied Arts/Architecture at Melbourne University, supporting himself through architectural and wedding photography.

3 portraits in the collection

'Red Terra' - Black Activist: A portrait of Gary Foley, 2006

by Rod McNicol

Ross Honeysett

Ross Honeysett (b. 1953) is a professional photographer who began his career in London and Paris, shooting for fashion magazines Vogue, Tatler, Glamour and Elle.

2 portraits in the collection

Sue Ford 1980-2006, 1980-2006 (printed 2013)

Ruth Maddison

Purchased 2013

Valentin Shkolny

Valentin Shkolny grew up in his native Ukraine, where he began painting as a child and took his first photograph - of his mother - when he was 12.

1 portrait in the collection

The Photographic Society of Victoria, Melbourne

The Photographic Society of Victoria was formed in 1876 to 'bring photographers together in a friendly spirit, in order to advance the art and science of photography in the colony, without any attempt at binding or dictating to members any special trading rules, such as charges for photographs or hours or days for closing or opening their respective establishments.' At the time of the first annual meeting on 9 March 1877 there were 61 members, five whom were ladies.

1 portrait in the collection

Mark Mohell

Mark Mohell has been Image Services Manager at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra since 2010.

1 portrait in the collection

John Slaytor

John Slaytor (b. 1966) is a Sydney based commercial photographer and an accredited member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography.

1 portrait in the collection

Samantha Nimunburr Wyborn

Magazine article by Brett Canét-Gibson, 2018

Samantha Nimunburr Wyborn is a Bardi and Yawuru woman, artist and jeweller.

1 portrait in the collection

The Life of Riley, 2014 by Brett Canet-Gibson

Observation Point

Portrait photography, by definition, is a collaboration. It is also the grandest of lies masquerading as the ultimate truth.

Dennis Del Favero, 2012

by Hamish Ta-mé

Arthur William Burman

Arthur William Burman was one of the nine children of photographer William Insull Burman (1814-1890), who came to Victoria in 1853.

2 portraits in the collection

Patrick Dawson

Patrick Dawson is believed to have been trained as a surveyor and learnt photography while surveying in Victoria in the 1850s.

1 portrait in the collection

Release, 2010

by Donna Gibbons

Hal Missingham AO

Hal Missingham AO (1906-1994), best known as a gallery director, was also an artist and photographer.

1 portrait in the collection

Craig Tuffin

Craig Tuffin (b. 1969) born in Redcliffe, Queensland, is an artist and educator living on the Tweed Coast.

1 portrait in the collection

Henry Talbot

Henry Fox Talbot (1920-1999), photographer, was born Henry Tichauer. The son of a middle-class Jewish family, he changed his name after fleeing Germany and being 'volunteered' out of England on the Dunera.

2 portraits in the collection

Quentin Jones

Over the past 18 years Quentin Jones has worked on most Fairfax mastheads, including The Good Weekend and The Sydney Magazine.

2 portraits in the collection

David Moore

David Moore was a photographer who helped to establish the Australian Centre for Photography in Sydney with colleague Wesley Stacey.

115 portraits in the collection

Andres Serrano

Andres Serrano, photographer, grew up in New York. After leaving school at fifteen to pursue a career as an artist he attended the Brooklyn Museum Art School between 1967 and 1969.

1 portrait in the collection

Frank, 2007

by Simone Stabb

Noel Rubie

Noel Rubie (1901–1976) was a painter and photographer who had a portrait and industrial photography studio in Sydney and worked during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

1 portrait in the collection

Treaties for madmen only, 2008

by Matthew Regan

Rod McNicol

Rod McNicol (b. 1946), photographic artist, studied photography at Prahran College in Melbourne, where he formed a close friendship with Athol Shmith.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 53

Winter 2016

Experience the art of rock music; attend to the neglected aspects of Lord Kitchener's work; and say farewell to the inimitable Bob Ellis.

Juliet van Otteren

Juliet van Otteren's first passion were dance and riding her horses bareback across the countryside.

1 portrait in the collection

John Witzig

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

John Witzig, photographer, writer and designer, contributed his first piece to Surfing World in 1963.

5 portraits in the collection

Nora Heysen with her dog standing outside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney

Nora Heysen with her dog standing outside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney, 2000

Sage

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Nora Heysen with her dog sitting outside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney

Nora Heysen with her dog sitting outside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney, 2000

Sage

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

S. Milbourn Jnr

S. Milbourn Junior is listed as operating as a photographer in Glenelg, South Australia, from 1890 to 1894, though there are scant details of his practice in existing texts on Australian photography.

2 portraits in the collection

Policies and plans

Governance & Board

Polices and plans that direct the Gallery's work

Portrait 54

Spring 2016

Explore an Indian treasure trove, photography by Robert McFarlane and Nan Goldin, Michael Taylor's expressionist paintings, the Great War portraits, and more!

Elliott and Fry

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

Elliott & Fry, a photography studio and photographic film manufacturer, was founded in 1863 at 55-56 Baker Street, London by Joseph John Elliott and Clarence Edmund Fry.

2 portraits in the collection

Myself and Eye

Magda Keaney speaks with Lewis Morley about his photographic career and the major retrospective of his work on display at the NPG.

Warwick Baker

Tough & Tender

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

The photographs in Tough and tender by Warwick Baker reveal intimate connections and moments of closeness.

Poet of the Fleeting Moment

Mark Strizic's work crosses a broad spectrum of photographic fields including urban, industrial, commercial, and architectural photography.

Emerging realities

Magazine article by Helena Bezzina, 2008

The National Photographic Portrait Prize turns ten

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2003

It is now a little more than 178 years since the French Academy of Sciences was made aware of the invention of the daguerreotype process.

Mrs Cameron and the V&A

In March 2003 Magda Keaney travelled to London to join the photography section of the Victoria & Albert Museum for three months.

Fred Kruger

Fred Kruger was born in Berlin and came to Victoria around 1860. By 1866 he’d taken up photography, and soon began making his name with landscape photographs, some of which went on to win medals at exhibitions in Vienna, Philadelphia, Melbourne and Geelong.

1 portrait in the collection

Self portrait, Cyprus, 1953

David Potts

NPG London, Scotland and Australia, 28 January 2021

Purchased 2001

15 minutes of frame

Recorded virtual programs

Delve into the lives, loves and labour of the world’s most prominent portrait galleries in this international conversation series.

Lady [Hannah] Lloyd Jones, c. 1930

E.O. Hoppé

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2005

Purchased 2013

Glossy too

The Glossy 2 exhibition highlights the integral role magazine photography plays in illustrating and shaping our contemporary culture.

Max Dupain

The Vintage Years

Previous exhibition, 2003

During his long and distinguished career Max Dupain took thousands of photographs of people

Shadows of light

Magazine article by Mark Haworth-Booth, 2002

Mark Haworth-Booth explains why Bill Brandt is one of the most important British photographers of the Twentieth Century.

Doug Gimesy

Magazine article by Olivier Krischer, 2016

Douglas Gimesy, conservation and wildlife photographer, graduated in zoology and microbiology before gaining master’s degrees in both bioethics and environment.

1 portrait in the collection

Untitled from The Other Shore 2014-15, by Wei Leng Tay

Insight and identity

Olivier Krischer in conversation with photographer Wei Leng Tay.

Hal Missingham, 1947

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Rex Dupain 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Kate Gollings

Photographer Kate Gollings embarked in the late 1990s on a project to take a 'national snapshot', photographing 100 people who had made a distinctive contribution to Australian society and culture.

11 portraits in the collection

Herman Mishkin

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

Herman Mishkin (1871–1948) was the pre-eminent photographer of opera stars of the 'Golden Age'.

2 portraits in the collection

Nora Heysen inside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney

Nora Heysen inside her home, Hunters Hill, Sydney, 2000

Sage

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001

Extremely generous and incredibly close

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

Michael Desmond examines the daguerreotype portraits created by American artist Chuck Close.

Self portrait, 1937

Harold Cazneaux

Purchased 2015

The Reverend Ralph Sutton, 1935

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on card

Gift of Reverend Ralph Sutton's daughters Arlene Howes and Megan Newman in memory of Ralph Sutton and in tribute to his wife Dorothy Sutton 2011

Kill them with kindness, 2006

by Alex Kershaw

Ingvar Kenne

Ingvar Kenne (b. 1965), photographer, was born in Sweden and is now based between Sydney and New York.

16 portraits in the collection

Arianne McNaught

Previous exhibition, 2003

I think the most important thing in capturing candid shots is to never take the photo when people are expecting you to press the shutter. The more poignant moments are not the stock standard images of people looking at the camera smiling but after or before when they are really interacting with each other.

Lewis Morley

Myself and Eye

Lewis Morley has a great eye for a shot and a sharp ear for a pun

Jesse Lizotte

Anne Zahalka Portraits 1987-2007

Jesse Lizotte (b. 1991), photographer, was born in Sydney and spent most of his childhood in New York.

1 portrait in the collection

Hall of Mirrors

Hall of Mirrors: Anne Zahalka Portraits 1987-2007 explores the thread of portraiture through the artist's prolific career, now spanning more than 20 years.

Stuart Campbell

Stuart Campbell, born in Ballarat, became interested in photography as a student at Swinburne Technical College in Melbourne.

10 portraits in the collection

Jacqueline Mitelman

Portrait, direct positive colour photograph

Jacqueline Mitelman (b. 1952), photographer, was born in Scotland and moved to Australia with her family at the age of five.

23 portraits in the collection

Rose Lindsay, 1970

Anthony Browell

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Edward Richards

Edward Richards, photographer, has lived and worked in Canberra for most of his life.

1 portrait in the collection

Stevie Wright, 2003 (printed 2005)

Gregory McBean

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Exposed: Voyeurism Surveillance and the camera since 1870

The Tate/SFMOMA exhibition Exposed examined the role of photography in voyeurism and how it challenges ideas of privacy and propriety.

Ben Baker

Born in Adelaide and raised in Darwin, Ben Baker currently resides in New York City and works internationally.

1 portrait in the collection

Simon Harsent

I like to think I'm an artist who uses photography as my medium, but I work commercially as a photographer and it's my full time occupation so I guess that defines me as a photographer or maybe a commercial artist?

Karin Catt

Karin Catt grew up in Newcastle, where she began taking photographs of touring bands while a schoolgirl, and also in London and Hong Kong.

9 portraits in the collection

Alex Frayne

London-born, Adelaide-based photographic artist and filmmaker Alex Frayne (b.

2 portraits in the collection

Jessica Mauboy, 2018

by David Rosetzky

Commissioned with funds provided by Sony Music Entertainment Australia 2018

Andrew Maccoll

Andrew Maccoll (b. 1978) is a photographer and creative director. Born into an artistic family (his father is a press photographer and his mother a documentary producer) he worked as a darkroom printing assistant while studying for his degree in Visual Arts in Photography at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University.

3 portraits in the collection

Jacqui Stockdale

Jacqui Stockdale (b. 1968) works across theatrical portrait photography, painting, drawing and collage to explore ideas surrounding cultural identity, national history, theatricality, masquerade and folkloric traditions.

1 portrait in the collection

Samantha Nimunburr Wyborn, c. 2000

Penny Tweedie

Gift of the artist 2004

George Hoyningen-Huene

Baron George Hoyningen-Huene (1900–1968) was a high-profile American fashion photographer and Hollywood figure.

1 portrait in the collection

Dean Beletich

Dean Beletich (b. 1968), artist and photographer, studied at Newcastle Art School, the National Art School Sydney and the University of Newcastle from 1987 to 1991.

1 portrait in the collection

Ashley Mackevicius

Ashley Mackevicius grew up in Melbourne, where he became a freelance photographer after attending art school in the mid-1970s.

1 portrait in the collection

Gordon Andrews, Lovett Bay, Sydney, 1987 (printed 2000)

Portrait, albumen paper photograph on carte de visite

The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001

Sir John Young, c. 1862

Freeman Brothers

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Henry Samuel Sadd

Photographic Portraiture in Australia

Henry Sadd was born in London and exhibited engravings there before emigrating to the USA some time around 1840.

8 portraits in the collection

Mirror With A Memory

Previous exhibition, 2000

This is the first major exhibition to examine photographic portraiture in Australia, from its beginnings in the early 1840s to the present day

The photographers

The eight photographers represent diverse styles, specialities and career paths. Abigail Varney, Peter Brew-Bevan, Martin Philbey, John Tsiavis, Michelle Day, Julian Kingma, and Giovanni Lovisetto.

Heather Corrigan

Archived media releases 2017

The lovely faces in my photograph are that of my best friends. Some I have only known for a couple of months, others for most of my life. For me, recreating a family portrait with individuals I love was supremely important. I was reconstructing a photo of people I cherish with people I adore.

Toni Collette as Muriel trying on a wedding dress by Robert McFarlane, Muriel’s Wedding, 1994

Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits opens

9 November 2017

Visitors will be left in awe with the National Portrait Gallery and National Film and Sound Archive of Australia’s (NFSA) new star-studded exhibition, Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits.

HJ Wedge

HJ Wedge (1957–2012), Wiradjuri artist, was born at Erambie mission near Cowra.

1 portrait in the collection

Rhys Graham

Filmmaker and writer Rhys Graham has worked across a number of moving image forms.

1 portrait in the collection

Nic Walker

Portrait, pastel and chalk on paper laid down on cotton over Cedar strainer

Nic Walker spent his early years in Cairo and Beijing with his father Tony Walker, a foreign correspondent.

1 portrait in the collection

Jessie Whyte, c. 1840

Thomas Bock

Purchased 2017

Witzel Studios

Previous exhibition, 2005

Witzel Studios was founded in Los Angeles by photographer Albert Walter Witzel (1879–1929) in 1909 and within a few years had become one of the city’s foremost portrait studios.

1 portrait in the collection

Glossy 2

Faces, Magazines, Now

Following the success of Glossy: Faces, Magazines, Now in 1999 the National Portrait Gallery again highlights the huge array of contemporary portraiture in the pages of magazines.

Sage

Magazine article by Andrew Mayo, 2017

Sage (b. 1963) was born in Wales and studied at the School of Documentary Photography in South Wales under magnum photographer David Hurn.

7 portraits in the collection

Something old, something new

Andrew Mayo considers the changing face of modern wedding photography through the eyes of two of its finest exponents, Dan O’Day and Kelly Tunney.

Why do painted portraits still matter?

Magazine article by Sandy Nairne, 2006

Lecture by Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, given at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra on 28 April 2006.

About the exhibition

Portraits from the Sigg collection, from 1979 to the present including painting, sculpture, photography, video and installation.

phra ajahn ekaggata fka terry milligan

Former photographer phra ajahn ekaggata (formally known as terry milligan), was born in San Francisco and lived in various locations in the USA and Australia before discovering the small town of Braidwood, near Canberra.

7 portraits in the collection

Face of South Sudan, 2012 by Melanie Faith Dove

NPPP 2013 exhibition essay

Joanna Gilmour, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2013 Prize.

George Baird Shaw

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, sepia toned on paper

George Baird Shaw (1812-1883), painter and printmaker, arrived in Australia in 1856.

2 portraits in the collection

Kyle Vander-Kuyp, 1998

Anderson & Low

Purchased 2001

Self Portrait (Textanude) by Arlene TextaQueen

Animated

Self Portraits Online

Previous exhibition, 2008

Animated is the National Portrait Gallery's first online exhibition.

Surface tension

Art, love, absurdity and exuberance

Joanna Gilmour on the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2013.

Richard and Pat

Passion

Partners in sparkle

NPPP 2012 exhibition essay

Joanna Gilmour, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2012 Prize.

H. Walter Barnett

H. Walter Barnett (1862-1934) was a leading portrait photographer of the late Victorian, Edwardian and interwar periods.

12 portraits in the collection

David Potts reflected in a magazine page

David Potts reflected in a magazine page, c. 1949 (printed 2000)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001.

Selina Ou

Selina Ou (b. 1977), a Melbourne-based photographer, established her reputation through photographs of figures in urban environments that teem with detail, such as streets, convenience stores, workshops, hardware outlets and pharmacies.

1 portrait in the collection

Norman C Deck, c. 1905

Harold Cazneaux

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Linda Jackson

Linda Mary Jackson (b. 1950) is a fashion designer and artist. Having studied fashion design at Emily McPherson College and photography at Prahran Technical College, she travelled to New Guinea, through Asia and Europe, and worked for Parisian couture house Mia-Vicky.

1 portrait in the collection

Olive Cotton

Previous exhibition, 2002

Olive Cotton (1911-2003) was one of Australia's pioneering modernist photographers.

2 portraits in the collection

Headspace 3

Being Me

The self-portrait enables students to explore emerging and changing aspects of their own identity, their sense of self, their place in the world, their experience of being human

Kristina, 1984 (printed 2013)

Michael Riley

Purchased 2013

The Surgeon (Dr Julian Smith), 1934

Harold Cazneaux

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Peter Dombrovskis

Archived media releases 2018

Peter Dombrovskis, photographer and environmental activist, was born of Latvian parents in a refugee camp in Wiesbaden at the end of World War 2.

1 portrait in the collection

Finalists announced for National Photographic Portrait Prize

14 November 2018

The National Portrait Gallery would like to congratulate the forty finalists for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019.

Groups of four and three people on a theatre stage in front of a dark curtain

stArts with D Performance Ensemble

Artists and Collectives

Based in Mparntwe/Alice Springs and the Central Desert Region, stArts with D disability-led performance ensemble collaborates, creates, and presents original works celebrating identity, place and belonging.

Aussies all

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

The exhibition Aussies all features the ecclectic portrait photography of Rennie Ellis which captures Australian life during the 70s and 80s.

Thomas Mathewson (inset) and his studio on Queen Street, c. 1908 by Thomas Mathewson & Co

Northern exposure

Magazine article by Phil Manning, 2017

Phil Manning celebrates a century of Brisbane photographic portraiture.

Katherine Bennett

The lady in the centre of this photograph is my partner's Granny. So we are almost directly related, and here, as with all photographic work. I am in a state of exchange though I think only directly, with one of the women!

Kristina, 1986 (printed 2013)

Michael Riley

Purchased 2013

Axel Poignant

Previous exhibition, 2017

Axel Poignant (1906-1986) photographer, was born in England. His mother was English, his father Swedish.

4 portraits in the collection

Collection in focus: Brook Andrew

Experience the artistic clout of Brook Andrew’s portraits of Marcia Langton AM and Anthony Mundine.

The Last Picture Show (Lewis Morley and Henry Talbot), 1999

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Tony Shaw, 2018

by Sarah Rhodes

Commissioned with funds from the Patrick Corrigan Portrait Commission Series 2018

Bonita Mabo, 1994 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Purchased 2011

Ron Taylor AM

Ron Taylor AM (1934–2012) was a marine conservationist and pioneer of underwater cinematography.

1 portrait in the collection

Norman C. Deck

Norman C Deck (1882-1980), photographer and dentist, joined the Photographic Society of New South Wales at the age of about fourteen, becoming its youngest-ever member.

1 portrait in the collection

Elaine Pelot-Syron

Elaine Pelot-Syron grew up in Miami and came to Australia to teach English in 1971.

1 portrait in the collection

Prince William of Wales, by Mario Testino, 2003 publ. September 2003.
Credit: Mario Testino

Vanity Fair Portraits

Photographs 1913-2008

Vanity Fair Portraits traces the birth and evolution of photographic portraiture through the archives of Vanity Fair magazine.

David Roberts

Melbourne-based photographer David Roberts was born in Forest City, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State University with an honours degree in philosophy.

4 portraits in the collection

Francis Nixon

Francis Russell Nixon (1803-1879) photographer, artist and Anglican clergyman, arrived in Hobart in 1843 to take up the role of Bishop of Tasmania.

2 portraits in the collection

James Macarthur, c. 1836-1838

Portrait, black and bronze ink with white bodycolour highlight on buff board

Purchased 2019

Anna Meares, 2018

by Narelle Autio

Portrait, colour digital print on photographic paper

Commissioned with funds provided by King & Wood Mallesons 2018

David Moore, Max Dupain and John Gollings, 1980

Kate Gollings

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2001

Studio

Australian Painters Photographed by R. Ian Lloyd

NPPP 2012 learning resource

Studio: Australian Painters Photographed by R

Alina Gozin'a

An interview with the photographer.

Shea Kirk

I see everyone as being really special, amazing people and it is such a privilege to have the opportunity to work so closely and develop that relationship of trust and openness.

Ron and Valerie Taylor, n.d.

Gift of Valerie Taylor and Ron Taylor AM 2006

Ian Frazer, 2007

Marian Drew

Commissioned 2007

Noel Fraser Hickey, 1957

Nancy Menetrey

Portrait, oil on canvas

Gift of the artist 2021

Sue Walker, 1977

Gift of the artist 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

200 Years of Portraiture

NPPP 2012 learning resource

To celebrate his family bicentenary, Malcolm Robertson looks at the portraiture legacy left by his ancestors.

Arianne McNaught

An interview with the photographer.

John Bell, c. 1968

Greg Weight

Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Vincent Fantauzzo on Hugh Jackman

Recorded 2021

Portraits for Posterity

Drawn from some of the many donations made to the Gallery's collection, the exhibition Portraits for Posterity pays homage both to the remarkable (and varied) group of Australians who are portrayed in the portraits and the generosity of the many donors who have presented them to the Gallery.

Ellie Cole, 2016 (printed 2021)

Peter Brew-Bevan

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021

Mervyn Bishop

Magazine article by Katherine Russell, 2006

Mervyn Bishop (b. 1945), a Murri photographer, began a cadetship with the Sydney Morning Herald in 1963.

6 portraits in the collection

Go glossy!

In association with the Glossy 2 exhibition, eight year 10,11 and 12 students spent two days transforming themselves into a variety of alter-egos in the first ever 8x10 Glossy Photo Shoot Workshop.

Lindy Lee AO

Lindy Lee AO (b. 1954) is one of Australia's foremost contemporary artists.

2 portraits in the collection

Making Sense of Place #4 (Portrait of Professor George Seddon)

George Seddon AM

George Seddon AM (1927-2007), scholar and academic, studied English at Melbourne University before spending several years abroad, travelling and teaching at universities in Europe and North America.

1 portrait in the collection

Wesley Stacey

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

Wesley Stacey (1941–2023), photographer, was an apprentice silk screener and studied drawing and design at East Sydney Technical College in the early 1960s before working as a graphic designer and photographer in Sydney and London.

3 portraits in the collection

Penn on paper

Michael Desmond discusses Irving Penn's photographic portrait of Nicole Kidman.

John Tsiavis

John Tsiavis (b. 1977) is a photographer working across portraiture, entertainment, editorial and advertising projects.

6 portraits in the collection

Vivan Sundaram

by Rakhee Balaram

Born in 1943 in Simla, Vivan Sundaram’s long career has given him opportunities to work in a range of mediums – painting, installation, assemblage, photography, digital media and film.

Olegas Truchanas, 1971

Ralph Hope-Johnstone

Previous exhibition, 1999

Purchased 2005

Glossy - Faces Magazines Now

Magazines are the portrait galleries of the 90s... Glossy is about magazines. The exhibition presents the work of eight photographers, Australian by birth or long-term residency, who are producing portraits for publication in magazines around the world.

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2010

Previous exhibition, 2010

An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.

Apollo's breath

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

Christopher Chapman delights in the intimacy of Robert Mapplethorpe's photography

George Fetting

George Fetting (b. 1964) is a Sydney-based photographer specialising in portrait, travel and editorial work.

8 portraits in the collection

Anna Meares

Recorded 2018

Ben McNamara

Portrait, pastel on paper laid on canvas

This is Marissa Gallagher from Kintore, which if you're in Alice Springs, just go west until the WA border, just before that, a traditional area of Pintupi mob.

Portrait of Mrs Sarah Fairfax, c. 1864

Edwin Dalton

Gift of John Fairfax Holdings Ltd 2002. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Form and reality

A photographic portrait by Kerry Dundas captures the contemplative mind of visionary painter Godfrey Miller.

Susan Norrie

The portrait of Patrick White by Brett Whiteley

Susan Norrie (b. 1953) is a contemporary artist who explores social, political and environmental issues through painting, sculpture, installation, photography and video.

2 portraits in the collection

Patrick White at Centennial Park, 1979–1980

White Whiteley

Previous exhibition, 2012

Eleven works by Brett Whiteley, centred around his scintillating 'Patrick White at Centennial Park 1979-1980'.

Tim Fairfax, 2018

by Russell Shakespeare

Previous exhibition, 2003

Commissioned with funds provided by The Calvert-Jones Foundation 2018

POL

Portrait of a Generation

POL was a magazine that ran from 1969 to 1986

Master Molteno, c. 1866

Townsend Duryea

Portrait, pigment photographic prints on paper, hand ground glass

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Blow Back, 2018

Julie Rrap

Gift of the artist 2024. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.

Nikki Toole

Magazine article by Andrew Mayo, 2020

Recorded 2017

Fly fishing for Atlantic Salmon, Iceland, 2015 Josh Hutchins

Fisheye

Andrew Mayo explores the portrait piscatorial, with help from two of its most creative practitioners.

Leisel Jones, 2015 (printed 2021)

Peter Brew-Bevan

Magazine article by Wendy Sharpe, 2013

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021

Models with trident and 1970s lamp 2013
by Wendy Sharpe

Observation point

Australian artist and Archibald Prize finalist, Wendy Sharpe reflects on the art of portraiture.

Judy Davis, 1981

William Yang

Purchased 1998

Lorrie Graham

J B. Hunt after Antoine François Jean Claudet

Lorrie Graham (b. 1954), photojournalist, was given her first camera, a Kodak plastic brownie, at the age of eight.

20 portraits in the collection

Caroline Chisholm, 1853

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Purchased 2015

The Movie Star (David Gulpilil), 1985

Tracey Moffatt

Portrait, albumen paper photograph

Gift of the artist 1998. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Queen Rose of the Wathaurung People, c. 1876-1877

Fred Kruger

Purchased 2017

Ivan Gaal

Previous exhibition, 2023

Ivan Gaal came to Australia as a refugee from his native Hungary in 1957.

1 portrait in the collection

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

9 lives of Karin Catt

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2006

Australian photographer Karin Catt has shot across the spectrum of celebrity, her subjects including rock stars, world leaders and actors.

Albert Falzon

Albert Falzon (b. 1945), film maker and photographer, was in the Australian army and worked for Australian Surfing World magazine before co-founding the Australian surf magazine Tracks in 1970.

1 portrait in the collection

Carol Jerrems, Paddington, 1976 (printed 2003)

Roger Scott

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Hedda Morrison

Hedda Morrison (1908-1991) was born Hedda Hammer in Stuttgart, Germany where she acquired her first Box Brownie at the age of 11.

1 portrait in the collection

Turia Pitt, 2017 (printed 2021)

Peter Brew-Bevan

Purchased with funds provided by the Annual Appeal for Contemporary Australian Photography 2021

Tracey Moffatt

Tracey Moffatt AO (b. 1960) is an artist whose work reflects on issues including race, childhood trauma, gender and popular culture.

8 portraits in the collection

Michele Aboud

Michele Aboud, commercial, fashion and portrait photographer, is a graduate of the Photographic College of London and UCLA.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait of Patricia Piccinini, 2019

Allissa Oughtred

Gift of an anonymous donor 2019

The blue of the dawn, 2009 by Vittoria Dussoni

NPPP 2011 exhibition essay

Dr Sarah Engledow, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2011 Prize.

Jon Lewis, 1990 (printed 2002)

Portrait, type C Duraflex print on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2002
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Susan Norrie, 1990

Anne Zahalka

Gift of Leo Christie 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

NPPP 2012 learning resource

Learning resource archive

Exploring select works from the NPPP 2012. For secondary students.

Crikey!

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2006

Robin Sellick captured a rare moment of quietude from the late conservation star Steve Irwin.

Peter Brew-Bevan Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2005

In this exhibition Sydney based photographer Peter Brew-Bevan brings together an intimate collection of works that highlight his passion for the genre of portraiture over the last 10 years

Australian Aboriginal Cricketers, 1867

Patrick Dawson

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on original lithograph title sheet

Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

James Houston

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper laid on photography studio backing board

Scoring first prize in New South Wales for Art in the 1983 HSC was a signal that a talented creative career lay ahead and this has indeed proven the case.

2 portraits in the collection

Florence Cardell-Oliver, n.d.

Broothorn Studios

Gift of Chris Nielsen 2016

Untitled #88 (Captain Brad Kilpatrick and Kylie Minogue, Balibo, East Timor, 20 December 1999)

For the boys

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2011

The photographs from Matthew Sleeth's tour of duty series look more like advertisements than images of war.

Self portrait in reflection, 1973

Gift of the artist 2003. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Jacob Nash, 2017

Ingvar Kenne

Magazine article by Robert McFarlane, 2004

Gift of the artist 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Insightful

Henri-Cartier-Bresson invented the grammar for photographing life in the 20th century.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023

Learning resources

We encourage you to look, to feel, to think, to question and most importantly, to identify and connect.

Sir Robert Gibson

Sir Robert Gibson GBE (1863-1934) trained in design and drafting in Glasgow, where he began work as a designer at an iron company; he soon became manager of its London office.

1 portrait in the collection

Rhodri G. Davies

Rhodri Glyn Davies worked as a television cameraman and director of documentaries while pursuing his interest in photography, exhibiting with a group of artists called Quincunx in Wales and Scotland.

1 portrait in the collection

Valerie Taylor

Magazine article by Stephen Dupont, 2008

Valerie Taylor AM (b. 1935) is a marine conservationist, photographer and shark specialist.

1 portrait in the collection

Axe Me Biggie

Australian photojournalist Stephen Dupont's Afghanistan project captures the human experience of a country in reconstruction.

Rugby great a fine addition to Portrait Gallery Collection

21 March 2017

Archived media releases 2017

A portrait of Australian rugby great, Dr Mark Loane AM MBBS FRANZO FRACS, is the latest addition to the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection. The work is the final in a series of three commissioned portraits of Australian rugby luminaries funded by Gallery benefactor, Mr Patrick Corrigan AM.

Everybody's heard about the bird

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Two professionals; Australian surfer Layne Beachley and photographer Petrina Hicks, combine their strengths to achieve a remarkable portrait.

Betty Cuthbert, 1955 (printed 2003)

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

Jan Senbergs AM

Jan Senbergs AM (1939-2024) came to Australia from Latvia in 1950. He studied at the Melbourne School of Printing and Graphic Arts, where he was influenced by Leonard French.

2 portraits in the collection

Juno Gemes

Photographer and social justice activist Juno Gemes (b. 1944) has spent much of her long career documenting the lives and struggles of First Nations people.

38 portraits in the collection

Semi self portrait, Hunter Valley, 1992 (printed 2000)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001

David Moore, Corio, Victoria, 1942 (printed 2000)

Gift of the artist 2001. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
The series 'David Moore: From Face to Face' was acquired as a gift of the artist and with financial assistance from Timothy Fairfax AC and L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2001.

Lust for life

Magazine article, 2008

Celebrated Sydney-based photographer and performer William Yang was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to produce a new performance work that premiered at the opening of the Gallery's new building.

Wes Stacey, Kurnell, Sydney, 1973 (printed 2000)

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2009

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

An annual event, the National Youth Self Portrait Prize seeks to encourage young people to embrace self portraiture and its expressive possibilities.

Alienation

More about In the flesh

Segregated from their fellow humans in cellophane prisons, reference points are removed, so it is not certain whether these naked figures could be unwrapped, are about to be subsumed, or will forever be suspended in a plastic stasis.

Portraits and other stories

As the National Portrait Gallery opens its exhibition of portrait and figurative work by veteran photographer Sam Haskins, the artist reflects on the highlights of his fifty-year career so far.

Thomas Bock

Photographic Portraits from 19th Century Australia

Thomas Bock, artist, printmaker and photographer, is believed to have been born at Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, in 1790.

3 portraits in the collection

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa

Husbands and Wives

Previous exhibition, 2010

'I have just been to my dressing case to take a peep at you.

Jackie French, 1999

phra ajahn ekaggata fka terry milligan

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Robert Hughes, 1996

Rex Dupain

Magazine article by Anne O'Hehir, 2019

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Snap chat

2019 National Photographic Portrait Prize judge Anne O’Hehir looks beneath the surface of this year’s entries.

Talma Studios, Sydney

Talma Studios opened in Sydney in March 1899 in a George Street premises next door to the GPO.

1 portrait in the collection

Untitled, Conductors, Tramways series, 1990 © Matt Nettheim

Back track

Penelope Grist finds photographer Matt Nettheim re-visiting a formative and fulfilling career tram stop.

George Moore, 1957

Ern McQuillan OAM

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2003

The Illustrated London News

The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper.

3 portraits in the collection

Carol Jerrems

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Carol Jerrems (1949–1980) was a photographer known for her intimate portraits of friends, lovers and others occupying the progressive social and creative circles in which she moved.

9 portraits in the collection

Masters of Fare

Previous exhibition, 2018

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

Collection: Icons

Volume One

When a portrait communicates determination and individuality as boldly as these do, it has the potential to become an iconic image. For the Gallery’s 20th birthday this display brings together a group contemporary photographic portraits of inspiring women and men.

William Yang

William Yang (b. 1943) is a pre-eminent Australian photographer known for an intensely sustained body of work that examines issues of cultural and sexual identity, and which unflinchingly documents the lives of his friends and community and his own lived experience with curiosity, sensitivity and humour.

15 portraits in the collection

Archie Moore

Born in Toowoomba, Queensland in 1970, Archie Moore is a Kamilaroi and Bigambul man with British and Scottish heritage.

1 portrait in the collection

Portrait 67

Winter 2022

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2012

William Yang on his autobiographical self portraits, David Parker's 1970s and 80s Melbourne music photographs, seven-time NPPP finalist Chris Budgeon, and Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis.

Emmanuel at bedtime, 2011 by George Mifsud

To startle the eye

National Photographic Portrait Prize judge Joanna Gilmour previews the 2012 exhibition.

Karla Dickens

George Beldam, Sun Electric Engraving Company

Karla Dickens (b. 1967), Wiradjuri artist, graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the National Art School in Sydney in 2000 and has since built a diverse practice across the mediums of painting, photography, mixed media and installation.

2 portraits in the collection

Victor Trumper, 1905

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2009

MacKenzie family silhouette, 1846

Samuel Metford

Portrait, brush and ink, pen and ink, stencil cut-out with watercolour highlights on paper

Gift of the Estate of Nancy Wiseman 2007

Jan Senbergs, 2015

Jacqueline Mitelman

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

Patricia Piccinini

Patricia Piccinini (b. 1965) is an artist best known for her mutant life-like creatures rendered in silicone and her iconic hot-air balloons.

1 portrait in the collection

Paul Grabowsky, 2009

Martin Philbey

Commissioned with funds provided by Patrick Corrigan AM 2009

Paul Grabowsky, 2009

Martin Philbey

Commissioned with funds provided by Patrick Corrigan AM 2009

Jan Senbergs, 1976

Keith Looby

Portrait, oil on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Padraic McGuinness 2001
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

The play’s the thing

Penelope Grist charts an immersive path through Stuart Spence’s photography.

Self portrait, c. 1911

Frank Hurley OBE

Australian Athletes in Focus

Purchased 2005

Flash

Magazine article by Sarah Rhodes, 2019

Introduction The National Portrait Gallery’s photographic exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus explores various interpretations of Australian sporting men and women.

After Dante’s Inferno, 2018 Sarah Rhodes © the artist

Observation point

I met Clara while teaching photomedia at the University of Tasmania last year. One of her assignments focused on her relationship with her former boyfriend, who she now works for as his live-in carer.

Elegance in exile

Portrait drawings from colonial Australia

Previous exhibition, 2012

Elegance in exile is an exhibition surveying the work of Richard Read senior, Thomas Bock, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright and Charles Rodius: four artists who, though exiled to Australia as convicts, created many of the most significant and elegant portraits of the colonial period.

George Perry

George William Perry (1824–1900) was born in London and arrived in Victoria via South Africa around 1852.

2 portraits in the collection

Fred Williams - Painter, 1981

Rennie Ellis

Previous exhibition, 2019

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Primed

Some Prime Ministers

Seventeen of Australia’s thirty prime ministers to date are represented in the contrasting sizes, moods and mediums of these portraits.

References

About the exhibition curator Claire Roberts, and writers Eugene Wang and Zhang Letian.

Kevin Gilbert

Kevin Gilbert (1933-1993), Indigenous activist, writer and artist, wrote the first play by an Aboriginal person to be publicly performed in Australia.

2 portraits in the collection

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

Magazine article by Gael Newton, 2003

In its second year at the National Portrait Gallery, and for the first time touring to other venues, the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 continues to present surprising perspectives on the nature of contemporary portrait photography.

Vintage Max

Gael Newton delves into the life and art of renowned Australian photographer, Max Dupain.

All that fall

25 March 2015

Focusing on the wide-ranging themes of loss and absence, All that fall: Sacrifice, life and loss in the First World War creates a moving portrait of mourning and sacrifice as experienced on the Australian home front during the First World War.

George Hurrell

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2013

George Hurrell, born in Kentucky, began his working life studying painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.

1 portrait in the collection

Icons

Parliament House

Touring exhibition, 2019

Hereinbefore

Alistair McGhie talks with Laura Moore about her winning digital self portrait.

Chet Baker, singer, New York City, January 16, 1986 by Richard Avedon

The existential lens

Magazine article by Stephen Zagala, 2013

Stephen Zagala discusses Richard Avedon’s work from an Australian perspective.

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2015 finalists announced

17 August 2015

Archived media releases 2020

The National Portrait Gallery have selected the finalists for the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2015.

The National Portrait Prizes

29 January 2020

The National Portrait Gallery today announced finalists for the inaugural Darling Portrait Prize, a national new $75,000 prize for Australian portrait painting, and released selected images from the final prize pool for the popular National Photography Portrait Prize.

Olegas Truchanas

Olegas Truchanas (1923-1972) was born in 1923 in Siauliai, Lithuania.

1 portrait in the collection

Robert Di Pierdomenico "Dipper", 1986

Rennie Ellis

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2017

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2006

Full time

Alistair McGhie reminisces about three Australian rugby greats commissioned for the Portrait Gallery collection by Patrick Corrigan AM.

In and out of focus

Magazine article by Gael Newton, 2017

Gael Newton looks at Australian photography, film and the sixties through the novel lens of Mark Strizic.

M H Wednesday 11.15am from the series Self-harm, 2004

Big it up

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2005

Former National Portrait Gallery Curator Magda Keaney was a member of the selection panel of the Schwepes Photographic Portrait Prize 2004 at the National Portrait Gallery London.

Sideshow Alley

Infamy, the macabre & the portrait

Previous exhibition, 2015

Death masks, post-mortem drawings and other spooky and disquieting portraits... Come and see how portraits of infamous Australians were used in the 19th century.

Now and then

Polly Cutmore

Magazine article, 2023

Photographed 35 years apart, these two portraits offer both a timeline of, and thematic thread for, Maria (Polly) Cutmore’s life – from a young woman to a respected Gomeroi Elder.

Self portrait, 1976 (printed 2005)

David Malin

Previous exhibition, 2023

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005

Time and light

In Gallery Seven

This sample of 56 photographs takes in some of the smallest photographs we own and some of the largest, some of the earliest and some of the most recent, as well as multiple photographic processes from daguerreotypes to digital media.

Leah King-Smith

Contributing artists

Born: 1957, Gympie, QLD
Works: Brisbane

Australian Visit

The exhibition will include works of art from the NPG Canberra's permanent collection with some inward loans and aims to highlight the achievements of notable Australians.

Winners announced: Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award 2015

27 August 2015

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2015

The winners of the Macquarie Digital Portraiture Awards will be announced tomorrow morning at 10.00am at the National Portrait Gallery.

Movement is my radar

Michael Desmond charts the path of portraiture, arriving at Julian Opie’s digital realm.

Noel Fraser Hickey

Noel Fraser Hickey (1921–2010) was born in Kensington, in Sydney, New South Wales, a stone's throw from the Royal Randwick Racecourse.

1 portrait in the collection

Murray Rose, Jon Henricks and John Devitt

Murray Rose, Jon Henricks and John Devitt, 1955

Ern McQuillan OAM

Previous exhibition, 2020

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG 2004

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.

Benny (42nd Street Series), 1979–80 by Larry Clark

City boys

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2016

Christopher Chapman immerses himself in Larry Clark’s field of vision.

Seduce, Amuse, Entertain

NPPP 2007 exhibition essay

Michael Desmond, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2007 Prize.

Sir Douglas Mawson, c. 1916

Thomson Studios

Batchelder & Company Photo

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Mrs J.Q. McEwin 2000

Richard Henry Horne, mid 1860s

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Paul Cox, 2015

Jacqueline Mitelman

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2007

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Wayne Williams 2015

Seduce Amuse Entertain

Michael Desmond profiles a handful of the entrants in first National Photographic Portrait Prize and notes emerging themes and categories.

Depth of Field

Magazine article by Lauren Dalla, 2004

The exhibition Depth of Field displays a selection of portrait photographs that reflect the strength and diversity of Australian achievement.

Patrick White #1, 1980

William Yang

The vision of Gordon and Marilyn Darling

Purchased 1998

Uncommon Australians

Previous exhibition, 2015

This exhibition showcases portraits acquired through the generosity of the National Portrait Gallery’s Founding Patrons, L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC.

Satoshi Tokuhiro at Horai Gorge, Takaruzuka, Hyogo from Young Samurai – Bodybuilders of Japan Photography by Tamotsu Yato

Way of the body

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2019

Christopher Chapman reveals the intersection of iconoclastic Japanese figures Yukio Mishima and Tamotsu Yato.

The 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize

16 June 2023

Media

Shea Kirk’s portrait of friend and fellow-artist Emma Armstrong-Porter has won the 2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Graeme Murphy, n.d.

Stuart Campbell

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2013

Gift of the Estate of Stuart Campbell 2012

James Baldwin, writer, Harlem, New York 1945 by Richard Avedon

The Avedon effect

Dr Christopher Chapman explores how we can understand Richard Avedon's photographs.

School visit information

Learn

All you need to know from COVID-19 and group sizes to cancellations and our Certificate of Currency.

Wendy Whiteley in conversation with Janet Hawley

19 October 2015

Wendy Whiteley in candid conversation with Janet Hawley to celebrate the release of the book Wendy Whiteley and The Secret Garden.

Marcia Hines, c. 1981

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2003
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Australian Tapestry Workshop

The Australian Tapestry Workshop (formerly the Victorian Tapestry Workshop) was established in 1976, following two years of planning and research on the part of its founding patrons, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and Lady Joyce Delacombe.

2 portraits in the collection

Bathing woman, Bridlington, c.1825 by John Dempsey

Allow me to introduce...

Archived media releases 2020

These full-length figures in watercolour, gouache and pencil date mostly from the 1820s, and almost all come from the collection of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart.

Spring exhibition program

18 August 2020

The following on-line and physical exhibitions are planned to open at the National Portrait Gallery in coming months. For those who can’t travel at present, selected works from all exhibitions will be included online

Miles from nowhere, 2008 (printed 2014) from the Games of consequence series 2008 Polixeni Papapetrou

Mother’s muse

Magazine article by Inga Walton, 2020

Inga Walton traces the poignant path of photographer Polixeni Papapetrou, revealed in the NGV’s summer retrospective.

Reveries

Magazine article by Helen Ennis, 2007

The exhibition Reveries: Photography and mortality is a powerful display which brings together images that depict the last phase of people's lives.

On commission

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2002

Former NPG Director Andrew Sayers discusses the art of commissioning portraits.

Mia Wasikowska as Robyn Davidson at Hamelin Pool, 2013 by Matt Nettheim

Hump days

Magazine article by Jessica Bolton, 2017

Jessica Bolton navigates the parallel tracks documenting Robyn Davidson’s astonishing journey.

Jessie Robertson, c. 1849

Thomas Bock

Portrait, pencil, chalk and gouache on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by L Gordon Darling AC CMG and Marilyn Darling AC 2013

William P. Dowling

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

William Paul Dowling (1824–1877) is thought to have studied art in his native Dublin before settling in London, where he worked as a draughtsman while trying to establish himself as a portraitist.

1 portrait in the collection

Director John Duigan and actor Judy Davis on the set of ‘Winter of our Dreams’, Sydney, 1981 by Robert McFarlane

Natural born stiller

Penelope Grist speaks to Robert McFarlane about shooting for the stars.

Nan and Brian in bed, New York City 1983 © Nan Goldin

Love scars

Magazine article by Katrina Osborne, 2016

Katrina Osborne immerses herself in one of photography’s most fearless chronicles.

Richard Pratt, 2003 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Hosting a touring exhibition

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Nine square images of previous winners of the National Photographic Portrait Prize

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024

The National Photographic Portrait Prize is an annual event intending to promote the very best in contemporary photographic portraiture by both professional and aspiring Australian photographers.

Writing on the Wall, 2019 Dr Christian Thompson AO

To arrive at hope

NPPP 2020 exhibition essay

Penelope Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2020 Prize.

More about the National Photographic Portrait Prize

Comments from our judges and information about entering the 2017 Prize.

Out of the shadows

Magazine article by Andrew Mayo, 2016

Joanna Gilmour profiles the life and times of the shutter sisters May and Mina Moore.

Daniel Johns, Silverchair Melbourne 2007 by Martin Philbey

Rock art

Andrew Mayo talks to three of Australia’s most prominent and prolific music photographers — Martin Philbey, Kane Hibberd and Daniel Boud — about the challenges and inspiration behind their craft.

The look and the feel

Living Memory exhibition essay

Magazine article by Naomi Cass, 2007

Editor Stephen Phillips looks at the finalists' photographs through a judge's lens.

The cook (Michael Schmidt/architect), 1987

Hall of mirrors

Naomi Cass, Director of the Centre of Contemporary Photography, in conversation with Anne Zahalka.

Sure thing

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

Blue Mountain, Owner, Trainer, Jockey, James Scobie 1887 by Frederick Woodhouse Snr. is a portrait of James Scobie, well known jockey and eminent horse trainer.

Studio of the American & Australasian Photographic Co., Hill End, 1872

A rogue's calling card

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

Joanna Gilmour explores the stories behind the ninteenth-century carte de visites of bushrangers Frank Gardiner and Fred Lowry.

Clara Crosbie, c. 1885

Arthur William Burman

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

Gift of John McPhee 2018

Lucy Escott, c. 1861

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

Announcing... Jonathan Jones Bogong Cluster: Physically distant, socially connected

5 January 2021

A new light installation by Jonathan Jones reflects on the importance of community through the lens of his Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi heritage, whilst also acting as a prompt for gallery visitors to maintain social distancing.

Tejal Shah

by Gitanjali Dang

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite

Born in 1979, Tejal Shah grew up in Chhattisgarh, central India, moving to Bombay in 1995.

Gustavus Brooke, c. 1865

Burman and Son

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Elle on wheels

Magazine article by Lucy Quinn, 2013

Lucy Quinn compares the approaches of three photographers lured to the action and culture of roller derby.

Interiors

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Christopher Chapman previews the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009.

Introversion from High Jinks in the Hydrangeas, 2020 Tamara Dean

In our nature

Magazine article by Tara James, 2022

Tara James chats with award-winning artist Tamara Dean about portraiture prizes, the environment and the strength of women.

Matthew Burnett, c. 1865

Henry Samuel Sadd

Portrait, steel engraving on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Rock Island Bend. Franklin River, South West Tasmania, 1979 by Peter Dombrovskis

Written in Water

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis, photographers and conservationists, shared a love of photography and exploring wilderness areas of Tasmania.

New Chair of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia Board

5 November 2021

Fredrick Charles Burman after John Cochran

The Morrison Government has appointed Mrs Penny Fowler as Chair of the Board of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia (NPGA) for a 3 year term, commencing on 1 January 2022.

Reverend Daniel Draper, c. 1866

Purchased 2010

About Headspace

Both making and exploring art involve a form of thinking that opens the way to multiple systems of knowing and experiencing.

Myles Nelson

It was definitely a candid encounter as was the expression on the face. It was constructed insofar as the image was deliberately taken from a distance so as to minimize intrusion and to magnify the effect of the image.

Sir George Hubert Wilkins

Portrait, albumen silver photograph on paper

Sir George Hubert Wilkins (1888-1958), photographer, cinematographer, polar explorer and naturalist, spent his childhood on a farm in South Australia and became interested in photography while studying engineering and music at the University of Adelaide.

1 portrait in the collection

Edward John Eyre, 1867

Julia Margaret Cameron

Presented by Sir Roy Strong and the late Dr Julia Trevelyan Oman in memory of their friendship with Gordon Darling and Marilyn Darling 2006

Herra Pahlasari

by Aminudin TH Siregar

At the time of Herra Pahlasari’s birth in 1978, her academic parents were living in Canberra.

Georg von Neumayer, c. 1860

Johnstone & Co

Portrait, carte de visite photograph on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Go Figure! Contemporary Chinese Portraiture

12 July 2012

Previous media releases

Exhibited simultaneously at the two locations, Go Figure! is drawn from the Sigg Collection, the largest and most significant collection of contemporary Chinese art anywhere in the world.

William Robertson and Martha Mary Robertson

William Robertson and Martha Mary Robertson, 1863

William Edward Kilburn

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Malcolm Robertson in memory of William Thomas Robertson 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The People’s Choice Awards

16 June 2020

Archived media releases 2020

The votes have been counted, and the winners of the National Portrait Gallery’s People’s Choice Awards for the Prize exhibitions are...

In profile

Julian Kingma

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2023

Penelope Grist explores the photographic instinct of four-time National Photographic Portrait Prize finalist Julian Kingma.

Frank Lowy, 1998 (printed 2011)

Lorrie Graham

Magazine article by Amy Middleton, 2023

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2011

Safe space

Amy Middleton on the power of portraiture in promoting inclusivity and connecting with intersectionality and diversity in all its forms.

Portrait story

Magazine article by Vincent Fantauzzo, 2022

Artist Vincent Fantauzzo on dyslexia, connection and virtual sittings with Hugh Jackman.

Thomas Pearce, c. 1878

The Photographic Society of Victoria, Melbourne

Portrait, albumen paper carte de visite on card

Purchased 2010

Free Range Cousins, 2015 by Jennifer Stocks

Children of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2016

Learning resource

Learning resource archive

Senses, movement and imagination in portraits of children from the 2016 Prize. For Year 1 - 3 students.

Charles Summers, late 1860s

Batchelder & Company Photo

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Graham Smith 2009

Finest quality

Joanna Gilmour explores the life of Chinese-Australian businessman and philanthropist Quong Tart.

Technical terminology

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2010

Michael Desmond introduces some of the ideas behind the exhibition Present Tense: An imagined grammar of portraiture in the digital age.

Sir Henry Barkly, c. 1863

Batchelder & O'Neill

Portrait, albumen photograph carte de visite on card

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2010

Sarah and Ann Jacob, c. 1866

Townsend Duryea

Dalton's Royal Photographic Gallery

Purchased 2018

Henry Squires, c. 1861

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite, hand coloured on card

Purchased 2009

NPPP 2016 exhibition essay

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2008

Penny Grist, National Photographic Portrait Prize judge and curator, introduces the 2016 Prize.

Moving in creative circles

Harold Cazneaux's portraits of influential Sydneysiders included Margaret Preston and Ethel Turner, both important figures in the development of ideas about Australian identity and culture.

Portrait of Rosie Batty Unveiled at Portrait Gallery

24 January 2018

Archived media releases 2018

The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a newly commissioned portrait of Australian domestic violence campaigner and 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty.

123 Faces

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

Magda Keaney examines the 123 Faces project by Simon Obarzanek.

The 'Multi Exposed Hand'

22 January 2005

Magazine article by Bradley Vincent, 2022

Photographer Jozef Vissel talks about his ‘Multi Exposed Hand’ portrait of Sydney Opera House architect Jørn Utzon.

dumb & dumber from The Imponderable Archive, 2013 Samuel Hodge

Everything, everyqueer, all at once

Bradley Vincent considers Samuel Hodge’s use of the archive to create a queer vernacular of portraiture.

Restoring histories

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2004

Photographic conservation practices and the restoration of the Barbara Blackman photographic portrait.

Nusra Latif Qureshi

by Hammad Nasar

Nusra Latif Qureshi was born in Pakistan in 1973 and originally trained in the traditional art of Mughal miniature (musaviri) paintings.

Australian Love Stories

4 January 2021

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2005

A major new exhibition celebrating love in all its guises. Opening 20 March 2021.

Eileen Dunne in The Hospital for Sick Children, 1940

The incomparable Beaton

To accompany the exhibition Cecil Beaton: Portraits, held at the NPG in 2005, this article is drawn from Hugo Vickers's authorised biography, Cecil Beaton (1985).

Lady Barkly, 1863

Batchelder & O'Neill

Portrait, albumen silver carte de visite on card

Purchased 2014

Almerisa, Asylumseekerscenter Leiden, March 14, 1993

Interview

Magazine article by Rineke Dijkstra, 2013

Rineke Dijkstra's photographic series of her subject, Almerisa Sehric, evolved over the course of 14 years.

101 photographic portraits

Magazine article by Michelle Fracaro, 2004

Pat Corrigan's generous gift of 100 photographic portraits by Greg Weight.

Lionel Rose, World Champion Bantam Weight Boxer before departing to the USA to defend his title

The champs

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2020

Two lively portrait photographs reflect the agility of their subjects: world champion Australian sportsmen Lionel Rose and Anthony Mundine.

Peripheral vision

Aimee Board chats to emerging photographer Charles Dennington.

Pop poet

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2013

Dr Anne Sanders previews the works in the new focus exhibition Paul Kelly and The Portraits.

2021 Annual Appeal

Annual Appeal

In 2021 the Annual Appeal was focussed on Peter Brew-Bevan's portraits of athletes Turia Pitt, Leisel Jones OAM and Ellie Cole OAM.

Picture this...

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2003

This edited version of a speech by Andrew Sayers examines some of the antecedents of the National Portrait Gallery and set out the ideas behind the modern Gallery and its collection.

Shop Talk

Magazine article by Stephen Phillips, 2016

Angus and the arbiters talk (photo) shop for the National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Portfolio of 54 portraits compiled by Queen Victoria, 1859–1861 by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, Camille Silvy, Frances Day and William Bambridge

Queen of cartes

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Joanna Gilmour discusses the role of the carte de visite in portraiture’s democratisation, and its harnessing by Victoria, the world’s first media monarch.

Melanie Faith Dove

Magazine article by Glynis Jones, 2022

I had been watching Agnes with intrigue, her face and profile were so mesmerizing. On our final day together I pulled her aside and convinced her that she had such an amazing face that I needed to get a photograph for myself. It was very spontaneous in that I decided quickly how it would best look and shot it in only two frames.

Lyndall Hobbs and Marilyn at the Come as your favourite blonde party, Blitz Club, London, 1979 Robert Rosen

Shiny, happy people

Glynis Jones on the Powerhouse’s retrospective of one of Australia’s foremost fashion reportage and social photographers.

Powerful energy

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2010

Dr Christopher Chapman explores the symbolism in the portrait commission of Marcia Langton by Brook Andrew.

Ms Anna Burke MP, Speaker of the House of Representatives 2015 by Jude Rae

Hired guns, bounty hunters and horse whisperers

Magazine article by Jude Rae, 2016

Jude Rae contemplates the portrait commission.

Michelle Simmons, 2018

by Selina Ou

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide

Catholic clergymen from the Diocese of Adelaide, c. 1862

Stephen Edward Nixon

Purchased 2018

Pushpamala N

by Ajay Sinha

NPG Wellington, Edinburgh and Canberra, 10th March 2021

Pushpamala N. was born in 1956 in Bangalore. Her early training was in sculpture, but as her practice progressed she brought an early enthusiasm for narrative figuration into her photographic work.

15 minutes of frame

Recorded virtual programs

Delve into the lives, loves and labour of the world’s most prominent portrait galleries in this international conversation series.

Richard Morecroft & Alison Mackay, 2016 by Gary Grealy

Gary Grealy wins National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

31 March 2017

Archived media releases 2017

After months of anticipation, the winner for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 has been announced with renowned Sydney portrait photographer Gary Grealy taking out the award. George Fetting, guest judge for the 2017 Prize, was entranced with the evocative nature of the winning portrait Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay.

Skyhooks (Red Symons, Bob Starkie, Shirley Strachan, Greg Macainsh, Freddie Strauks) in Parker’s studio, Fitzroy, 1975 David Parker

Cool cool world

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2022

Penelope Grist unpacks photographs by David Parker, who captured the phenomenal emergence of the 1970s and 80s Melbourne music scene.

What the tree saw: David Foster, 2018

by Jacqui Stockdale

Magazine article by Jessica Smith, 2009

Commissioned with funds provided by the Sid and Fiona Myer Family Foundation 2018

Sketches and sermons

Jessica Smith looks at the 'fetching' portrait of Tasmania's first Anglican Bishop, Francis Russell Nixon by George Richmond

Stevie

Magazine article by Gregory McBean, 2005

Gregory McBean writes about photographing recent ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, singer Stevie Wright.

Terms and conditions

Darling Portrait Prize 2024

Darling Portrait Prize

These terms and conditions govern entries to the National Portrait Gallery’s Darling Portrait Prize 2024.

Harriet Schwarzrock: spaces between movement and stillness

10 February 2021

Magazine article by Sandra Phillips, 2020

To celebrate the new exhibition Australian Love Stories, renowned Australian glass artist Harriet Schwarzrock has been commissioned to make a large-scale installation reflecting on the role the heart plays as our emotional centre.

Vincent Brady leading anti Bicentenary Protest, Brisbane, 1987 Michael Aird

Activating the space

Sandra Phillips on portraits of Indigenous activism from Cairns Art Gallery’s 2019 Queen’s Land Blak Portraiture exhibition.

Navin Rawanchaikul

by Christine Clark

Magazine article by Jennifer Coombes, 2018

Navin Rawanchaikul has built his practice around explorations of the transient nature of identity in a globalised world, and draws much of his material from his own experiences.

Anne-Louise Lambert as Miranda Courtesy Picnic Productions

Rock star

Jennifer Coombes explores the lush images of Picnic at Hanging Rock, featuring Anne-Louise Lambert’s Miranda, the face of the film.

Portrait of a Manchu Noblewoman, 18th-19th C.

Facing East

Magazine article, 2007

An exhibition at the Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington DC showcases the art of portraiture in Asia over two thousand years.

Announcing... Portrait23: Identity

15 November 2022

Media

In this major new exhibition marking the National Portrait Gallery’s third decade, 23 Australian artists and collectives have been invited to create portraits without constraints or boundaries.

Small worlds

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Bess Norriss Tait created miniature watercolour portraits full of character and life.

Royal Solomon Islands Police Force recruits, Maranatha Hall, Honiara by Sean Davey

The art of peace

Magazine article by Sven Knudsen, 2018

Sean Davey captures the portrait of a nation renewed.

Hop, skip, shoot

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

Former NPG Deputy Director, Simon Elliott talks with Ern McQuillan about his life and career as a sports photographer.

Home truths

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2011

Despite once expressing a limited interest in the self portrait, the idea of it has figured strongly in much of Tracey Moffatt's work and has done so in some of her most distinctive and compelling images.

Staffordshire bull terrier belonging to the Rev. John Gower, 1851

Essential portraiture

Michael Desmond in conversation with University of Houston professor of philosophy Cynthia Freeland.

Conduct becoming

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2017

Penelope Grist speaks to Bill Henson and Simone Young to discover the origins of the artist’s stunning photographic triptych.

Hot Scots

Magazine article by Christopher Baker, 2013

James Holloway describes the first portraits you encounter when entering the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Progressive pictures

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2017

Athol Shmith’s photographs contributed to the emergence of a new vision of Australian womanhood.

A spectral sentience

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2019

Aimee Board reveals method, motivation and mortality in the portraiture of Rod McNicol.

Reflections on portraiture

Magazine article by Andrew Sayers AM, 2004

An extract from the 2004 Nuala O'Flaaherty Memorial Lecture at the Queen Victoria Musuem and Art Gallery in Launceston in which Andrew Sayers reflects on the unique qualities of a portrait gallery.

Queen Victoria, 1901

The Illustrated London News after Jean Joseph Benjamin-Constant

Portrait, photogravure on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2018

The Final Frontier

Magazine article by Magda Keaney, 2002

Magda Keaney talks with Montalbetti+Campbell about their photographic portrait of Australian astronaut Andy Thomas.

Ready , set... shoot

Magazine article by Christine Clark, 2006

The exhibition Flash: Australian Athletes in Focus offers various interpretations of sporting men and women by five Australian photographers.

Love City; George Gittoes on hilltop 2013

Man of war

Magazine article by Tedi Bills, 2016

Tedi Bills talks to George Gittoes about canvassing conflict.

Icons and imagery

Magazine article by Alison Weir, 2011

Alison Weir explores the National Portrait Gallery, London and the BP Portrait Award to find what makes a good painted portrait - past and present.

Off the wall

Magazine article by John Witzig, 2008

Photographer and surf mag editor John Witzig tells the stories behind his iconic surf images.

Anthony Anderton

NPPP 2012 learning resource

An interview with the photographer.

One and all

Magazine article by Niamh MacNally, 2007

The current exhibition of portraits at the National Gallery of Ireland Print Gallery investigates just how paper-thin ideas of likeness are.

In the galleries

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

Christopher Chapman highlights the inaugural hang of the new National Portrait Gallery building which opened in December 2008.

Greek Orthodox Priest, 2015 by Sarah Ball

Hope for kindness

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2018

Sarah Engledow arrives at the junction of fate and hope in Sarah Ball’s poignant Immigrants series.

See through me

Magazine article by Penelope Grist and Rebecca Ray, 2022

Penelope Grist and Rebecca Ray talk to the artists in Portrait23: Identity about transcending modes of portraiture.

Tiny Trace of a Colonial Giant

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2004

At just 7.8 x 6.2 cm, the daguerreotype of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and his wife Theresa is one of the smallest works in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Mick Jagger, Madonna and Tony Curtis, 1997

The Vanity model

Magazine article by David Friend, 2009

Vanity Fair Editor David Friend describes how the rebirth of the magazine sated our desire for access into the lives of celebrities and set the standard for the new era of portrait photography.

Twin chics

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2021

Joanna Gilmour on the exuberant union of fashion pioneers Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, captured in luminescent splendour by artist Carla Fletcher.

Naked nostalgia

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2016

Penelope Grist reminisces about the halcyon days of a print icon, before the infusion of the internet’s shades of grey.

Grande dames

Magazine article by Eva Respini, 2013

Eva Respini focuses on the ‘society portraits’ in MOMA’s Cindy Sherman retrospective.

Facing the inferno

Magazine article by Ellen Kent, 2007

Tara James speaks to Cam Neville about his portrait series, Firefighters.

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hand of traditional land owner Vincent Lingiari

A handful of sand

Ellen Kent examines the portrait of Vincent Lingiari and Prime Minister Gough Whitlam taken by photographer Mervyn Bishop.

Humanæ, 2012 (work in progress) by Angélica Dass

Colour by numbers

Magazine article by Alistair McGhie, 2019

Alistair McGhie explores the many shades of Angélica Dass’ Humanæ project.

The selfie stick

Little Darlings Youth Portrait Prize

Last week ABC Television came to interview me about selfie sticks. The story was prompted by the announcement that the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has lately prohibited the use of these inside their galleries. So far as I am aware we have not yet encountered the phenomenon, but no doubt we will before too long.

Entry guidelines 2024

Read the full requirements for entering the prize.

Terms and conditions

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2024

National Photographic Portrait Prize

Missionary positions

Magazine article by Stella Ramage, 2016

Stella Ramage on Father McHardy’s Bougainville portraiture.

Private virtues public lives

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2010

Family affections are preserved in a fine selection of intimate portraits.

The art of multiplicity

Magazine article by Meredith Hughes, 2019

Meredith Hughes explores a key Portrait Gallery work, emerging into the infinite iterations of identity.

Snap decisions

Magazine article by Robert Cook, 2018

NPPP judge Robert Cook provides irreverent insight into this year’s fare, and having to be a bit judgemental.

Louise Whelan

Magazine article by David Gist, 2019

I met Kaloti Parmjit the day I took the photo. I first visited the Sikh temple in the suburb of Glenwood to take photos as part of a social documentary project I'm undertaking for the State Library of NSW.

Thua Tich, South Vietnam, 1969-06 by Christopher Bellis

The jungle look

David Gist steps beyond the public relations veneer of Australia’s official Vietnam War portrait photographs.

Albert Jonas and John Xiniwe of The African Choir, 1891 London Stereoscopic Co.

Back in black

Magazine article by Krysia Kitch, 2017

Krysia Kitch reviews black chronicles at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Subtle emotion

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2010

Christopher Chapman considers photographer Rozalind Drummond's portrait of author Nam Le.

Illuminating history

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2023

Joanna Gilmour reflects on 25 years of collecting at the National Portrait Gallery.

Being Cate

Magazine article by Dr Christopher Chapman, 2009

A moving portrait of Cate Blanchett unfolds as an inspired pairing of medium and subject.

Little John of Colchester, a poor lunatic, c.1823 by John Dempsey

Dempsey's people

Magazine article by Simon Elliott, 2004

Those of you who are active in social media circles may be aware that through the past week I have unleashed a blitz on Facebook and Instagram in connection with our new winter exhibition Dempsey’s People: A Folio of British Street Portraits, 1824−1844.

Thousand mile stare

John Elliott talks about his photographic portrait practice, including his iconic image of Slim Dusty arm-in-arm with Dame Edna Everage.

Agus Suwage

by Enin Supriyanto

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2008

Born in 1959, Agus Suwage was educated in the creative hub of Central Java, Yogyakarta before moving west to study graphic design at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

Facing Australia, Composite portrait: Facing St Lucia, 2003

Conflicting images

Michael Desmond reveals the origins of composite portraits and their evolution in the pursuit of the ideal.

Miss Robertson of Colac (Dolly), 1885-86

Brothers on farms

Magazine article by Malcolm Robertson, 2011

Malcolm Robertson tells the family history of one of Australia's earliest patrons of the arts, his Scottish born great great great grandfather, William Robertson.

The Philosophy of Teapots and Ducks

Magazine article by Gillian Raymond, 2005

Cartoonist Michael Leunig's insights into the human condition and current affairs have become famous Australia-wide.

Moving pictures

The exhibition California Video at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles demonstrated how video artists expand the boundaries of portraiture.

Melati Suryodarmo

by Hendro Wiyanto

Magazine article by Michael Desmond, 2009

Born in Surakarta (Solo), Indonesia in 1969, Melati Suryodarmo’s first degree was in international relations.

International issue

Michael Desmond looks at the history of the Vanity Fair magazine in conjunction with the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008

I'm not there

Christopher Chapman looks at some contemporary portraits that explore the construction of identity.

Self Portrait, Stuart Campbell by Stuart Campbell

The essence of you

Magazine article by Lee Tulloch, 2011

Lee Tulloch remembers her great friend NIDA-trained actor turned photographer Stuart Campbell.

People are people

Magazine article by Sandra Bruce, 2022

Sandra Bruce chats with seven-time NPPP finalist Chris Budgeon about photography, guitars and representing the human story.

Hema Upadhyay

by Amrita Gupta Singh

Magazine article by Angus Trumble, 2015

Hema Upadhyay was born in Baroda in 1972 and moved to in Mumbai in 1998. Incorporating painting, installation, sculpture and printmaking, Upadhyay’s work often addresses issues related to migration, especially the experiences of those living in urban communities.

Desperately seeking Sonia

Esther Erlich’s portrait of Lady McMahon.

Seeing stars

Joanna Gilmour explores photographic depictions of Aboriginal sportsmen including Lionel Rose, Dave Sands, Jerry Jerome and Douglas Nicholls.

Nikhil Chopra

by Rattanamol Johal

Nikhil Chopra was born in 1974, in Calcutta. His first degree was in commerce, but in 1997 he took up fine art studies, eventually gaining a Masters in Fine Art from Ohio State University, United States.

The eye and the heart

Magazine article by Pamela Gerrish Nunn, 2016

Nici Cumpston immerses herself in the collective vision of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020.

Penny Fowler AM, John Barrington AM, Heidi Victoria, Elizabeth Dibbs, Tom Mosby, Hayley Baillie, Hugo Michell, Elizabeth Pakchung, Valerie Tam

The Board

Governance & Board

The Board oversees the Gallery's strategic directions, objectives and governance.

Adam’s Prize Apples

Pamela Gerrish Nunn explores New Zealand’s premium award for portraiture.

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Deputy Chair Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC, Nigel Satterley AM and Susan Armitage

Foundation Members

Foundation

Chairman Sid Myer AM, Hayley Baillie, Tim Bednall, Jillian Broadbent AC, Patrick Corrigan AM, Marilyn Darling AC, Tim Fairfax AC, Penny Fowler AM, John Liangis, Dr Helen Nugent AC and Nigel Satterley AM.

Giving a dam

True south #1

Ensconced and meditative in crisp Tasmania, Joanna Gilmour pays tribute to passionate green advocate and photographer Olegas Truchanas.

A Family Being Served with Tea, ca. 1745 by an unknown artist

A reflection on conversation pieces

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2013

There is in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, an English painting, datable on the basis of costume to about 1745, that has for many years exercised my imagination.

All dressed up

Jane Raffan asks do clothes make the portrait, and can the same work with a new title fetch a better price?

Worth her salt

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Jerrold Nathan's portrait of Jessie Street shows the elegant side of a many-faceted lady.

Of ice and men

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2009

Frank Hurley's celebrated images document the heroism and minutiae of Australian exploration in Antarctica.

William Shakespeare, c. 1600-1610 associated with John Taylor

Take thy face hence

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour travels through time to explore the National Portrait Gallery London’s masterpieces in Shakespeare to Winehouse.

The portrait writ large

Magazine article by Karen Vickery, 2015

Karen Vickery on Chang the Chinese giant in Australia.

Shall I raise my eyebrows and gasp? (Alex), 2011 by TextaQueen

Pen power

Magazine article by Jane Raffan, 2015

Politics and personae in the portraiture of TextaQueen by Jane Raffan.

Group photograph taken at the coronation of King George VI including Queen Elizabeth II, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Queen Mother, 12 May 1937 by Hay Wrightson

Poise and Carats

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2022

I keep going back to Cartier: The Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia next door, and, within the exhibition, to Princess Marie Louise’s diamond, pearl and sapphire Indian tiara (1923), surely one of the most superb head ornaments ever conceived.

Yanyuwa young men, The Song Peoples Sessions CD Launch Rehearsals, Yanyuwa Country, 2012 Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis

Us being ourselves

Penelope Grist talks to photographer Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis about capturing moments, telling stories and keeping Culture strong.

Revd Dr Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, c.1795 by Sir Henry Raeburn

Great Scots

Magazine article by Diana O'Neil, 2017

Diana O’Neil samples the tartan treats on offer in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Judy Davis and Sam Neill in ‘My Brilliant Career’, 1979 David Kynoch

Moving still

Magazine article by Anne O'Hehir, 2022

Anne O’Hehir on the seductive power of the film still to reflect and shape ourselves and our cultural landscape.

Some prime ministers

Magazine article by Tenille Hands, 2018

Sarah Engledow explores the history of the prime ministers and artists featured in the exhibition.

The life of Bryant

Tenille Hands explores a portrait prize gifted to the National Screen and Sound Archive.

Costantini's convictions

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2017

Jo Gilmour uncovers endearing authenticity in the art of a twice-transported Tasmanian.

Emblems of beauty

Magazine article by Keith Christiansen, 2012

Keith Christiansen introduces the exhibition The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The Long Awaited, 2008 by Patricia Piccinini

In the flesh

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

An exhibition of humanness in ten themes by Penelope Grist.

20/20 launch speech

Magazine article by Penelope Grist, 2015

Dr Helen Nugent AO, Chairman, National Portrait Gallery at the opening of 20/20: Celebrating twenty years with twenty new portrait commissions.

Untitled #21/09 (after Ricci, 1700; featuring Matthew Mitcham)

Getting bare

How seven portraits within Bare reveal in a public portrait parts of the body and elements of life usually located in the private sphere.

Little women

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2019

Joanna Gilmour looks beyond the ivory face of select portrait miniatures to reveal their sitters’ true grit.

Practising the Minuet (Miss Hilda Spong)

An actress and her fans

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2008

Dr. Sarah Engledow discovers the amazing life of Ms. Hilda Spong, little remembered star of the stage, who was captured in a portrait by Tom Roberts.

Mary (or Diana) Croker, mat woman, Colchester, 1823 by John Dempsey

Unknown drawer

Magazine article by Dr David Hansen, 2017

Dempsey’s People curator David Hansen chronicles a research tale replete with serendipity, adventure and Tasmanian tigers.

Portrait of a Pioneer , 1917
Violet Teague

Off her own bat

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour profiles Violet Teague, whose sophisticated works hid her originality and non-conformity in plain sight.

You are who?

Magazine article by Joanna Gilmour, 2022

Joanna Gilmour reflects on merging collections and challenging traditional assumptions around portraiture in WHO ARE YOU.

Anangu landscape learning

Angus' initial perception of Uluru shifts, as he comes to see it as central to the entire order of Anangu life.

The Bare story

Curator, Penny Grist, reveals how this exhibition came to be

Christmas Island