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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.

Breakfast with bats, 2017

by Douglas Philip Gimesy

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 Finalist

Breakfast with bats, 2017

Julie, a wildlife carer in Melbourne, has spent the last four years fostering orphaned grey-headed flying foxes (also known as fruit bats). She bottle-feeds them six times a day, moisturises their wings with baby lotion and keeps them stimulated with kids’ toys. In the wild, mother bats would lick them clean, but Julie draws the line at that! All going well, at about two months of age they will go to a larger crèche before being released into the flying fox colony at Melbourne’s Yarra Bend Park. The species, a vitally important pollinator for our native forests, has suffered significant population decline and is now listed as vulnerable. Julie’s work is more important than ever.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018
(More information, View all 43 photos)

The arrival
TWO WAYS/A dualistic system
The Queen of Deakin
A weekend at Edie's

Related information

Charlie, 2017 by Lee Grant
Charlie, 2017 by Lee Grant
Charlie, 2017 by Lee Grant
Charlie, 2017 by Lee Grant

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

Previous exhibition, 2018

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 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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