© 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 2022 Finalist
Martha is a member of the Bendigo South Sudanese Ensemble, formed in 2019. Every week they would come together to ideate, compose, sing and practice their craft, working towards a performance celebrating their culture and heritage. This formed the project Baai ('home') which premiered in November 2021 after being postponed multiple times.
The photo was taken in The Engine Room, a black box performance space which is quite disorienting to be in when the lights are low. I wanted a sense of the subjects floating in the space, emphasising the feeling of being cut-off and isolated by the pandemic.
Courtesy of the artist
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.
Visit us, learn with us, support us or work with us! Here’s a range of information about planning your visit, our history and more!
We depend on your support to keep creating our programs, exhibitions, publications and building the amazing portrait collection!
