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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.

Back to earth, 2019

Julian Dolman

Living Memory Finalist

Back to earth, 2019

I took this portrait of my father Michael a few weeks before he passed away. The moment when taking it felt quite surreal, as if I somehow knew it would be the last shot taken of him. He is standing under his mother's oak tree, which grew from an acorn taken from their home town of Flint, Wales. He seemed at peace (perhaps for the first time in all the time I knew him), and ready for whatever journey awaited. I took the photo on my Contax G2 using Kodak Portra film.

Courtesy of the artist
© The artist

Living Memory
(More information, View all 79 photos)

Untitled
The Goodall boys
The silent gardener
Lockdown dreaming II

Related information

Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley
Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley
Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley
Drought story, 2020 Joel B. Pratley

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.
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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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