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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Individuation - Persona, 2024

Michael Cook

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025 Finalist

pigment photographic print on paper (image: 70.5cm x 120.5cm. sheet: 71.7cm x 122.0cm. frame: 75.4cm x 125.6cm depth 4.4cm)
Individuation - Persona, 2024

‘Persona places my face amidst a cityscape also featuring my friend, artistic collaborator Joey Gala. In this portrait, my face is reflected in Gala’s “mask”, noting our shared Aboriginality and place. We were both raised in Badtjala Country; I was adopted into a white family (with subsequent confusion about my identity), and Gala raised in community (grounded in culture). I ponder our lives – and potential parallels – in this personal exploration that probes the materialistic conditioning and emptiness of Western society (which exists in contrast to the connectivity Captain Cook observed in Aboriginal traditional lives back in 1770).’

Michael Cook is a Meanjin/Brisbane-based contemporary photographic artist of Bidjara heritage. Cook’s works interrogate the legacy of colonisation and invite the viewer to experience roles in reversal and histories re-written.

People's Choice Award

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025

The People’s Choice Award is generously supported by the Calvert-Jones Foundation, with the artist who wins the most votes receiving $10,000.

Voting closes Sunday 28 September 2025.

Submit vote

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025
(More information, View all 48 photos)

Blue Tongue
William Barton x Yidaki
Amazine and Amaziah
Hope and fear

Related information

Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot), 2024 Hoda Afshar
Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot), 2024 Hoda Afshar
Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot), 2024 Hoda Afshar
Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot), 2024 Hoda Afshar

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025

Current exhibition

from Saturday 16 August

The NPPP is an annual prize for Australian photographers. The year’s most outstanding photographic portrait is awarded a $30,000 cash prize and photographic equipment valued at $20,000 courtesy of our Imaging Partner, Canon Australia.
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance

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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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