© 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
‘His Nibs is a collaboration between my mother Dorothy Jean Croft (née Stone, 1938–2010), my father Joseph Croft (c. 1925–1996) and myself as the artist and their eldest child. My handsome father stands proudly in front of his two-tone EK Holden at Mt Isa Airport, where he had been working as a surveyor on the Townsville to Mt Isa railway line. The portrait was taken by my mother shortly after her arrival from “down south” as a marker of their reuniting after a lengthy period apart. The title His Nibs is an affectionate, cheeky nod in my mother’s hand to my father’s confident stance in the image.’
Brenda L Croft is from the Gurindji/Malngin/Mudburra Peoples, Victoria River region of the Northern Territory, and has Anglo-Australian/Chinese/German/Irish/Scottish heritage. For four decades Croft has played a leading role in the cultural arts sector as a multidisciplinary creative-led researcher and artist.
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.
Linda Burney, Brenda Croft and Darrell Sibosado share memories of Michael Riley and his photographic practice.
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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