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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.

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Morteza Arefifar, Manus Island Detention Centre, 2017

by Adam Ferguson

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019 Finalist

Morteza Arefifar, an asylum seeker from Afghanistan suffering from depression brought on by prolonged detention, stands for a portrait at the now-closed Manus Island Detention Centre in Papua New Guinea on 8 November, 2017. The centre had officially closed eight days earlier, on October 31, but a large number of asylum seekers refused to be relocated to new centres on Manus; they remained at the site without power and with inadequate access to water, food and medical treatment. Before its closure, the centre was an Australian Government offshore immigration detention facility, opened as one of the measures to deter irregular migrants from seeking asylum in Australia.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019

Other NPPP photos from Adam Ferguson

Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) employee, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine, May 2022 Adam Ferguson
2023 Finalist
Carlos Soyos, 34, a migrant from Guatemala City, Guatemala and his son, Enderson Soyos, 8, take a self portrait at El Buen Samaritano migrants shelter, Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, 2021 Adam Ferguson
2022 Highly Commended
Roo shooter's offsider, 2017 by Adam Ferguson
2018 Finalist
Jokowi, Indonesia, 2014 by Adam Ferguson
2015 Finalist
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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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