© National Portrait Gallery 2026
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Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2026 Finalist
‘This photo collage layers a childhood photograph of my cousin Rashida over a page from EBONY magazine, bringing my family archive into dialogue with formative cultural experiences from the 1980s. It situates this private history alongside a publication of liberation, long described as “by us, for us”. Produced by the Johnson Publishing Company from 1945 to 2016, EBONY chronicled Black life in the US across social justice, health, beauty, fashion, sport and education. Through this act of overlay and assemblage, familial memory engages with broader histories – aligning Rashida’s image with EBONY’s visual language to bridge temporal distance and expand my understanding of Blackness today.’
Arini Byng is a multidisciplinary artist born on Gadigal Country and now based in Naarm/Melbourne. She explores how moments, objects and places appear within social and political debates and activates her family archive to navigate themes of identity, history and lived experience.
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 Wednesday 30 September 2026.
from Saturday 22 August
The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2026 marks the end of one of the Gallery’s longest-running exhibitions.
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