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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.

Grace Tame – Between the Sea and the Sky, 2025

Stuart Spence

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025 Finalist

pigment photographic print on paper (image: 90.3cm x 65.0cm. sheet: 90.0cm x 64.0cm. frame: 111.6cm x 83.7cm depth 3.8cm)
Grace Tame – Between the Sea and the Sky, 2025

‘People are malleable entities, adapting, skewing, feeling, often hundreds of times a day. So when an artist creates a portrait, a question needs to be asked, who exactly is being captured? The idea of a single artwork somehow portraying a sitter’s character or persona seems fraught to me. Grace Tame is extraordinary, living a life few could comprehend, let alone survive, devoting her life these days to advocating for survivors of child sexual abuse. What story did she bring to my portrait this day? What part of her spirit did she choose to reveal? Is this even a portrait of Grace Tame? Maybe, but of course there’s so much more, a ripple on an ocean that holds beneath far more than it reveals. Oh, but what a ripple.’

Stuart Spence is a photographer and director based on Gadigal land/Sydney whose practice spans portraiture, reportage, film and fine art.

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)

Artist Thom Roberts
Eldest daughter's freedom
Waiting on the wet
Alfonso Puautjimi

Other NPPP photos from Stuart Spence
(More information)

Peter O'Doherty, 2013 by Stuart Spence
2014 Finalist

Related information

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Surfing, Noosa, 1970s Stuart Spence
Surfing, Noosa, 1970s Stuart Spence
Surfing, Noosa, 1970s Stuart Spence

The play’s the thing

About Face article

18 November 2020

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