© 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 photograph depicts my wife and I, on the cusp of welcoming another child into our family. 12 years of friendship has seen us through a lot. There have been good times and there have been bad times; chronic health issues, the grief of her being disowned by her family, a traumatic birth and unravelling from the postpartum anxiety/depression that followed. At times the whole world feels like it’s broken and burning down around us, yet still we push on with quiet optimism. Where there’s love, there’s space to dream. One where a brighter future is more than just a glimmer of hope.’
Shea Kirk is a Naarm/Melbourne-based artist who works with traditional photographic methods and techniques. Paring back photography to its fundamentals, Kirk works with both commercially available and self-made cameras, honouring the essential components of photography – as a recording of light – in an intentional and thoughtful way.
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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