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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.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

We were cold, 2019

Ben Mcnamara

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020 Finalist

We were cold, 2019

We were driving from Kintore to Kiwirrkurra in the Central Desert region, looking for a roadside campfire where our mates were cooking for the night. 'Is that one – way up there?', Wheeler asked, peering through the darkness in the middle of the night. 'Kinda looks like two.' Fifteen minutes down the road, we pull up … to a bushfire. 'WHEEEEEELERRR!!', Lorna yells, surprised to see us. 'What’s going on Lorna?! What’s with the fire?' Lorna stops, and looks at us like we must be completely stupid. ‘We were cold.’

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020
(More information, View all 47 photos)

Paper plane
Willie ‘Bomba’ King
Paul's smile
Archie Roach

Other NPPP photos from Ben McNamara
(More information)

Marissa, 2022 Ben McNamara
2023 Finalist
Yukultji and Yalti with their family, 2019 Ben Mcnamara
2020 Finalist
Shaun, 2015 by Ben McNamara
2016 Finalist

Related information

The mahi-mahi, 2019 Rob Palmer
The mahi-mahi, 2019 Rob Palmer
The mahi-mahi, 2019 Rob Palmer
The mahi-mahi, 2019 Rob Palmer

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

Previous exhibition, 2020

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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The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance

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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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