© National Portrait Gallery 2026
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2026 Finalist
‘This is a portrait of my father, Lê Ngọc Long, who had served in the Vietnam military since he was 14. As 2025 marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the American War in Vietnam, I asked my father to commemorate the occasion as if he was being directed by his unit lieutenant. The photographs were made through an infrared filter – a technology used by America during its war in Vietnam. In doing so, I aim to subvert the filter’s original role in exposing Vietnamese figures during combat and instead gesture toward the complex emotions within my father’s wartime experience.’
Phuong Nguyen Le is a Vietnamese photographer, artist and researcher based in Naarm/Melbourne. His work engages with counter-historical narratives and draws on familial, communal and collective identities within his communities.
The People’s Choice Award is generously supported by the Calvert-Jones Foundation, with the artist who wins the most votes receiving $10,000.
Voting closes Wednesday 30 September 2026.
from Saturday 22 August
The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2026 marks the end of one of the Gallery’s longest-running exhibitions.
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