© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 Finalist
I asked Leah to cradle a dead Boobook owl killed by a car, and hold whatever thoughts came into her mind – then I asked her to look at the camera. She stared straight down the lens with an expression of resigned sadness and forceful grace. In hindsight, this first picture was all I needed to take. Animals are our witnesses. Even in death they offer us the opportunity for reimaging our often fraught relationship with the natural world. They are also a call to arms in the fight to save it.
The exhibition is selected from a national field of entries, reflecting the distinctive vision of Australia's aspiring and professional portrait photographers and the unique nature of their subjects.
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