• Greta in her kitchen, 36 weeks, 2018. © Alana Holmberg. Pregnancy carried my sister into a new chapter of her life and she welcomed it warmly. Effortlessly. Ready for things to change. We’d spent much of our late twenties debating the ‘right time’, if there was even such a thing, but she’d found it. This portrait is an attempt to depict the tranquility in Greta’s transition into motherhood, and her trust in the future.
    Greta in her kitchen, 36 weeks, 2018. © Alana Holmberg. Pregnancy carried my sister into a new chapter of her life and she welcomed it warmly. Effortlessly. Ready for things to change. We’d spent much of our late twenties debating the ‘right time’, if there was even such a thing, but she’d found it. This portrait is an attempt to depict the tranquility in Greta’s transition into motherhood, and her trust in the future.
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Alana Holmberg wins $30,000 National Photographic Portrait Prize

22 February 2019

The winner of the 2019 National Photographic Portrait Prize is Alana Holmberg, for her image, Greta in her kitchen, 36 weeks. Holmberg, who beat the over 3,000 other entrants, was initially named amongst the 40 finalists. The Highly Commended has been awarded to Alex Vaughan for her portrait Sumbawa pride – life on a boat with eleven kids. Holmberg will receive the $30,000 cash prize along with $22,000 of equipment courtesy of Canon. Vaughan will receive an EIZO monitor valued at over $3,000.

Dr Christopher Chapman, Senior Curator at the National Portrait Gallery and co-judge of this year’s Prize, said the portrait of Greta captures an intimate moment. "This unconventional portrait is quiet and contemplative. The judges agreed that a compelling portrait photograph could be one that conveys a reflective moment experienced by many. The quality of light, the composition of the image and the subtle communication of the narrative combine to create an inner world."

Sumbawa pride – life on a boat with eleven kids, 2018. © Alex Vaughan. Beccie, Steve and their eleven children left rural Tasmania behind to take to the high seas on their thirteen-metre boat and full-time home, Sumbawa. Three day-old baby girl ‘Squeak’ is the first of the siblings to be born on the boat. Here, they take a break from their travels, anchoring off Chinamans Beach in Sydney, Australia in February 2018.
Sumbawa pride – life on a boat with eleven kids, 2018. © Alex Vaughan. Beccie, Steve and their eleven children left rural Tasmania behind to take to the high seas on their thirteen-metre boat and full-time home, Sumbawa. Three day-old baby girl ‘Squeak’ is the first of the siblings to be born on the boat. Here, they take a break from their travels, anchoring off Chinamans Beach in Sydney, Australia in February 2018.

Of Vaughan’s portrait, Chapman said: “The judges agreed that this is a joyous family portrait.” He went on to say that both the winning and highly commended images “possess a cinematic quality”. He and the other judges “felt strongly that both portraits allude to the ways in which family connections grow, and the photographs speak to the variety of experiences of motherhood”.

Greta in her kitchen, 36 weeks, 2018. © Alana Holmberg. Pregnancy carried my sister into a new chapter of her life and she welcomed it warmly. Effortlessly. Ready for things to change. We’d spent much of our late twenties debating the ‘right time’, if there was even such a thing, but she’d found it. This portrait is an attempt to depict the tranquillity in Greta’s transition into motherhood, and her trust in the future.
Greta in her kitchen, 36 weeks, 2018. © Alana Holmberg. Pregnancy carried my sister into a new chapter of her life and she welcomed it warmly. Effortlessly. Ready for things to change. We’d spent much of our late twenties debating the ‘right time’, if there was even such a thing, but she’d found it. This portrait is an attempt to depict the tranquility in Greta’s transition into motherhood, and her trust in the future.

The Gallery awarded the Art Handlers’ Award earlier in the week to Elizabeth Looker for her portrait, A Calm So Deep. Looker’s prize includes $2,000 cash and return shipping of her artwork after the regional tour.

A calm so deep, 2018. © Elizabeth Looker. Dorotea asked if she could participate in the photographic study I have been working on for exhibition, The Spirit and the Flesh, capturing the energy and spirit within my subjects. She was so ready to ‘see’ herself, and to show herself to me. Open and honest, adventurous in self-exploration, she was vulnerable with her words and free in her movement.
A calm so deep, 2018. © Elizabeth Looker. Dorotea asked if she could participate in the photographic study I have been working on for exhibition, The Spirit and the Flesh, capturing the energy and spirit within my subjects. She was so ready to ‘see’ herself, and to show herself to me. Open and honest, adventurous in self-exploration, she was vulnerable with her words and free in her movement.

Voting in the People’s Choice award opens on Saturday 23 February, with the winner announced on 25 March.

The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2019 opens to the public on Saturday 23 February and is on display until Sunday 7 April 2019. Following this, it will tour the country.

Stephen Dupont, 2018. © Simon Harsent. I first met Stephen Dupont eight years ago; I regard him as one of Australia’s finest photographers. I’ve always found Stephen a very humble and passionate person – sometimes aloof, but in an intriguing way. When I saw his one-man show a few years ago, I saw a different side of him, and it gave me some insight, some partial understanding of the complexities of being a war photographer. To me, this portrait sums up the complex intensity of Stephen. Coincidentally, the sitting took place on September 11th this year (2018), a date in history that holds significance for both of us.
Stephen Dupont, 2018. © Simon Harsent. (Finalist) I first met Stephen Dupont eight years ago; I regard him as one of Australia’s finest photographers. I’ve always found Stephen a very humble and passionate person – sometimes aloof, but in an intriguing way. When I saw his one-man show a few years ago, I saw a different side of him, and it gave me some insight, some partial understanding of the complexities of being a war photographer. To me, this portrait sums up the complex intensity of Stephen. Coincidentally, the sitting took place on September 11th this year (2018), a date in history that holds significance for both of us.

About the judges

Dr Christopher Chapman is Senior Curator at the National Portrait Gallery. Since the late 1980s Chapman has worked with artists, written about art, developed exhibitions and presented talks and lectures on art and social expression. His PhD looked at images of adolescent masculinity in 20th century photography.

Anne O’Hehir is Curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Australia. She writes on photography, and has curated and contributed to many exhibitions at the Gallery as well as being the curator of the photography space 2010-2015. She has a particular interest in contemporary photomedia practice as well as Modernist photography of the 1920s and 1930s.

Hoda Afsharis an Iranian-born Melbourne-based photographer. She began her career as a documentary photographer in Iran in 2005, and has been living and working in Australia since 2007. Working across photography and moving-image, she considers the representation of gender, marginality and displacement. Afshar’s many accolades include the winner’s award in the NPPP 2015.

Morteza Arefifar, Manus Island Detention Centre, 2017. © Adam Ferguson. 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.
Morteza Arefifar, Manus Island Detention Centre, 2017. © Adam Ferguson. (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.

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