Winner of the $30,000 National Photographic Portrait Prize announced

24 March 2018

The winner of the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 has been named as L ee Grant for her portrait, Charlie. Filomena Rizzo’s entry, My Olivia, has been awarded Highly Commended. Dr Christopher Chapman, Senior Curator at the Portrait Gallery and co-judge says it was the power of humanness that shone through in the two award-winning portraits. “It's a big deal to make it through to the final exhibition selection and with my fellow judges Petrina Hicks and Robert Cook, I was looking closely at how the portraits spoke to me, how they conveyed their story uniquely,” Chapman said.

Charlie, 2017. © Lee Grant. Charlie is one of the younger residents at Ainslie Village in Canberra, a social housing complex that provides accommodation and access to support services for some of the city’s most vulnerable inhabitants. Living at ‘the Vil’, as it is affectionately called, Charlie is near his father, Matt, who is also a resident.

Grant’s prize includes $30,000 cash from the Portrait Gallery, lighting equipment from Profoto to the value of $15,000, and paper supplies from Ilford to the value of $5,000.

Both thrilled and honoured to be named the winner of this year's competition, Grant said that she was unable to express in words just how grateful she was feeling. “I have been a Canberra girl for most of my life, so there is an extra personal significance in being able to share this work in my old hometown in one of the country’s most esteemed and respected institutions,” Grant said. “An acknowledgement like this is massive and will encourage me to keep going and to keep sharing stories that are important to me and that I believe deserve to be in the national conversation.”

For her Highly Commended, Victorian photographer Filomena Rizzo will receive an EIZO monitor valued up to $4,000. The Gallery awarded the Art Handlers’ Award earlier in the week to Stephanie Simcox for her portrait, Joey. Simcox will receive $2,000 cash thanks, and return shipping of her artwork after the regional tour.

My Olivia, 2017. © Filomena Rizzo. From a young age, Olivia experienced strong feelings and urges. She needed to kick the bin ten times. She would get into the car and tap the buckle with the seat belt ten times. She would lean forward in the front passenger car seat and gesture with her hands – opening and closing them ten times. She felt the need to do this before she could get on with her day. These urges were the consequences of genetic, biological and environmental factors. Patience and the maturing of chemicals in her brain saw her outgrow these impulses. Olivia is 11 now.

The National Photographic Portrait Prize opens to the public on Saturday 24 March and is on display until Sunday 17 June 2018. The exhibition will then tour around Australia. For more information, visit nppp.portrait.gov.au.

Joey, 2017. © Stephanie Simcox. Joey takes a moment to relax at the local waterhole after a long day working in a remote community in the Central Desert Region, Australia.