One unwasted hour / 2

The National Portrait Gallery was just there and I had a few minutes so I dropped in. Lucky. The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2016 (NPPP 2016) was on. I've caught the last three. It interests me given my background in photography as a minor hobby (much influenced by Ansell Adams). This one was worth the visit, as always. I consider photography a minor art (to the indignation of at least one photographer friend) but there are real skills technical, as in printing and presentation; technical, as in geometry, framing, use of light and the rest). I was disappointed with some works, variously pretentious, bland, routine, artificial. I enjoy pics that catch some time or action, that don't make unreasonably pretentious claims, that say something mildly that we could have seen ourselves if we'd just stopped to look. I guess I like snaps. There were some that annoyed me, like some posing subjects, or some poses that said nothing, or some references to other arts. I was offended by a few that drew you in but ridiculed the subjects (two boys in one; two girls in another). I liked a few formally structured pics for their rareness despite the requisite posing. I liked a few that told stories, like the immensely touching one of a holocaust survivor with the blanket of human hair that she'd worn leaving Auschwitz, or one of an Aboriginal querying his identity. I liked one of four people who shared a house in Canberra and had made a "family" together (although the whole discussion of definition of family is obvious here). I enjoyed the geometry of several, one of an LGBTIQ crew outside the Imperial Hotel in Sydney and another of an African black at his 18th birthday party in Newcastle. I liked the two boys playing with toy cars because my kids had done exactly the same thing, and the Free range cousins who acted as kids do when they get their photos taken in bulk. These are true to life. I guess this means I like a snap, and I do. In the end, I think my fave was Fostin outside his mum's, Kings Park, Melbourne, 2015 by Nicola Dracoulis. Just a simple portrait, unpretentious and with a great backstory. But that's just me.

The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2016 finalists were displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.

The pic above is detail of Fostin outside his mum's, Kings Park, Melbourne, 2015 by Nicola Dracoulis

NPPP2016 website

Just pics, after all

Face of South Sudan, by Melanie Faith Dove. Digital Print. Thanks to NPG for permission to publish

I was a little disappointed by the National Photographic Portrait prize. The hung pics, shortlisted from 1,200 entries, are now on display in the National Portrait Gallery. I was musing over how to judge these pics. These are just photos and I’ve said before that I consider photography a pretty minor art. I thought about which touched me; which seemed indulgent or touching or pretentious or humane; which seemed technically accomplished (I enjoy doing photography and I treated it rather seriously in the past, doing darkroom work and studying Ansel Adams and zone theory and composition). The winners didn’t do it for me. I was annoyed by a few pics: Reg Mombassa and his cat called Puss (what else?) (Reg / James Blackwood) and Rowan Atkinson in serious pose with some comment that he’s not really like Mr Bean and he likes cars (Bean no more / Quentin Jones). These both struck me as pretentious. I enjoyed the structure of the pic of Burt Bacharach although it seemed strangely devoid of personality (What the world needs now is love / Jeremy Shaw). A few other celebrities did nothing for me. Perhaps they are too used to the camera in their faces or too ready to enjoy it. I understood something from the homeless couple in a park with a tent (Rob and Kayla / Tom Psomotrogas). I despaired how anyone could make serious reference to the gutwrenching photo “General Nguyen Ngoc Loan Executing a Viet Cong Prisoner in Saigon” with a cute girl and Banksy graffito (Confronted / Tim Tam). I liked the pouting young daughter with a face of hair (Birds’ nests / Rewa Nolan) and the daughter’s creation of ornate Victorian clothing modelled by the other sister (The living room / Janet Tavener) and the kids who recreated circus characters (Les enfants du Paradis / Tracey Schramm). I respected another family story, of the father and retired NSW policeman on location in the Blue Mountains (Retired mounted policeman / Paul Mallam). These are personal and honest and each seemed to me to tell a true story. I very much liked the grannies seated in a row (Granny’s 90th / Katherine Bennett). I would have dreamed of taking that photo. I quite liked the feeding Aboriginal mother (Becky feeding Hazel / Louise Allerton) and the comfortable old couple next to her (Ivan and Lillian / Margot Sharman). I was touched by another young mother with a child in hospital (Katie and Jaylen Cornish / Morganna Magee). I admired the sharpness and colour of the channel swimmer (Wyatt / Daniel Arnaldi) and also the large portrait of a black man (Redfern, I love you – Alan / Ben Lawrence). I felt uncomfortable with one man, eyeless due to reflections on his glasses (Hamish Ta-mé / Dennis del Favero) but I enjoyed the story and the now-other-worldly feel of the morse coder (Morse coder / Richard Goodwin). But I gave it to the photo of Agnes (Face of South Sudan / Melanie Faith Dove). It’s a big and sharp portrait of a striking face, in profile, all glowing black skin and clean white background with a single, unobtrusive gold earring. Great pic. That’s my winner. Perhaps I should declare conflicts of interest: I prefer dogs and never laughed at Mr Bean. And one last thing. I was disappointed by the (not unreflective) glass over every pic. They don’t cover paintings that are unique; why cover photos that can be reproduced? I’m waiting on permission to use a pic, so in the meantime just follow the links below.

National Photographic Portrait Prize @ NPG