Born in Melbourne in 1959, Borland has lived in the UK for eight years and established an international reputation for both her portraiture and off-beat reportage, with work appearing regularly in the national and international press.
Polly Borland: Australians, has been jointly organised by the National Portrait Gallery, London and the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.
The portraits in the exhibition reflect the many fields in which Australians have excelled, including art, business, literature, science, music, media, architecture and fashion. Subjects include Natalie Umbruglio, Sir Robert May, Germaine Greer and Sir Les Patterson. They represent a cross section of diverse, established and emerging talents, and reflect that particular streak of radicalism which has helped establish Australia on the world map, as a nation of can-doers, daredevil entrepreneurs, successful artists and competitive sportsmen and women.
Borland says of her work, "I'm fascinated by people - I love meeting them, I love photographing them, I love finding out about them. The best portraiture is when you get beneath the skin of someone, it's psychologically revealing. You penetrate below the surface."
