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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

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In the shower, 2006

by Jane Burton

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2007 Finalist

The subject of this portrait is my husband. Because of the close, familial nature of our relationship, I have access to intimate moments, such as the daily ritual of showering. For me, the shower space is a private realm: an enclosed, solitary, physical and psychological space. The deep relaxation and trance state induced by water falling over the body opens the pathways to our deeper thoughts and feelings. In the shower, alone with our own thoughts, we reflect, project, relive and recapture. In this portrait, the camera enters the private physical space of the subject, but beyond that, attempts to capture a fleeting moment of the subject's psychological and emotional state of mind.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2007

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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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