© National Portrait Gallery 2026
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
‘When this portrait was taken Shirley was 92. One of 14 children, and unable to read or write, she spent her working life cleaning schools and private homes, eventually paying off her own house through her earnings. She describes herself as a “no-frills woman” and is comfortable in the body she inhabits. Her self-assurance reflects a life of hard work, resilience and independence. This portrait is part of No Filter: Women at Home in Their Skin, an intimate series of women over 70, photographed in their own homes with little concealed. The work responds to the near invisibility of the ageing female body, foregrounding visibility, representation and agency.’
Francis Cloake is a photographer based on the lands of the Bundjalung Nation in Cavanbah/Northern Rivers, New South Wales. Cloake’s portraiture practice centres on people, place and the stories that connect them.
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023 Finalist
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