The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled the shortlist for this year’s £12,000 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize.
The four shortlisted photographers are: Jessica Fulford-Dobson for A seven year old Afghan skater girl; Birgit Püve for her photograph of twin boys at their grandmother’s house in Saue, an area of idyllic countryside outside Tallinn, Estonia; Blerim Racaj for a portrait of young Kosavans; and the photographer David Titlow for a picture of his baby son being introduced to a dog.
Chosen from 4,193 submissions entered by 1,793 photographers, the shortlisted images will be among 60 portraits that will feature in portrait prize’s exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 13 November. The selected images, many of which will be on display for the first time, explore both traditional and original approaches to the photographic portrait through intimate images of friends and family alongside revealing portraits of famous faces.
The competition prides itself on being judged on an equal and anonymous basis from original prints, with a jury comprising: Sandy Nairne, director, National Portrait Gallery (Chair); Robin Muir, writer, curator and contributing editor to Vogue; Philip Prodger, head of photographs collection, National Portrait Gallery; and Bettina von Zwehl, artist.
The John Kobal New Work Award will be awarded to a photographer under the age of 30 selected for the exhibition. The winning photographer will receive a cash prize of £4,000 to include undertaking a commission from the National Gallery to photograph a sitter connected with the UK film industry. The award is judged by Simon Crocker, chairman of the John Kobal Foundation.
The prize winners will be announced at a ceremony at the National Portrait Gallery on Tuesday 11 November 2014.
