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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.

Search / michelle de kretser

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The Obama effect

Magazine article by Kim Sajet, 2018

Kim Sajet reflects on two portraits with a power that extends beyond gallery walls.

Miranda Otto

Biography

Miranda Otto (b. 1967), actress, is the daughter of the prominent Australian actor Barry Otto.

3 portraits in the collection

The inside story

General content

The photographers reveal the technical side of their work and reflect on changes in their profession. Now everyone has a camera in their pocket, is everyone a photographer? What is it like to sustain a career as a photographer in the entertainment industry? How do you work with celebrity subjects, negotiate the complex logistics of big shoots, and create captivating portraits under pressure?

Selina Ou

Biography

Selina Ou (b. 1977), a Melbourne-based photographer, established her reputation through photographs of figures in urban environments that teem with detail, such as streets, convenience stores, workshops, hardware outlets and pharmacies.

1 portrait in the collection

Sir Kenneth Gillespie

Biography

Sir Kenneth Gillespie (1929–2010), dancer, teacher and founder of the Tasmanian Ballet, left his native Launceston at age sixteen to join the Borovansky Ballet in Melbourne.

1 portrait in the collection

Fiona McMonagle

Biography

Fiona McMonagle, an Irish-born, Melbourne-based artist, grew up in an outer suburb of Melbourne and completed a qualification in visual arts at RMIT before progressing to the Victorian College of the Arts.

1 portrait in the collection

Kenneth Gillespie, 2005

Dean Beletich

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph, selenium toned on paper

Purchased 2015

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

NYSPP 2008

Previous exhibition, 2008

At the end of 2007 the National Portrait Gallery launched the inaugural National Youth Self Portrait Prize and artists aged between eighteen and twenty-five were invited to submit self portraits using a variety of media including drawing, painting, printmaking and traditional or digital photography.

Meryl Tankard AO

Biography

Meryl Tankard AO (b. 1955) is an internationally renowned dancer, choreographer, director and filmmaker.

1 portrait in the collection

Meryl Tankard, 2005

Ingvar Kenne

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Gift of the artist 2006

Rachel Griffiths, 2002 (printed 2004)

Karin Catt

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

A Calm So Deep, 2018 by Elizabeth Looker

The National Portrait Gallery Announces Art Handlers’ Award

18 February 2019

Archived media releases 2019

The National Portrait Gallery is excited to announce that Perth photographer Elizabeth Looker has won the Art Handlers’ Award for this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize.

Portrait Paintings by Matthew Perceval

Previous exhibition, 2007

From 1967 until 1981 Matthew Perceval lived and painted in France and during those years produced a large body of portrait paintings.

Icons

Parliament House

Touring exhibition, 2019

When a portrait communicates determination and individuality as boldly as these do, it has the potential to become an iconic image. For the Gallery’s 20th birthday this display brings together a group contemporary photographic portraits of inspiring women and men.

George Lambert, c. 1929

Annie May Moore

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2015

Twenty new portraits marking Portrait Gallery’s twentieth birthday

21 August 2018

Archived media releases 2018

To celebrate the National Portrait Gallery’s twentieth anniversary as an institution, twenty portraits of outstanding Australian individuals have been commissioned for the permanent collection. This is the largest undertaking for the Gallery’s commissioning program in its twenty-year existence.

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