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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.

Self portrait collecting dust, 2025

Tom Zust

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025 Finalist

pigment photographic print on paper (image: 75.7cm x 101.3cm. sheet: 95.0cm x 125.0cm. frame: 79.8cm x 105.4cm)
Self portrait collecting dust, 2025

‘This photo captures the intimate chaos of a life lived in one space, my childhood bedroom, for 34 years. Surrounded by a tapestry of trinkets and the quiet clutter of everyday life, my self portrait reflects the intersection of nostalgia and the present. The disorder becomes a tangible reminder of time passing, of a personal history that clings to the space, the room itself as much a part of my identity as the person within it.’

Tom Zust is a Slovenian-Australian artist and photographer who lives and works on the land of the Darug people in Western Sydney. Zust is engaged in the relationship between identity, artifice and photographic depiction.

People's Choice Award

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025

The People’s Choice Award is generously supported by the Calvert-Jones Foundation, with the artist who wins the most votes receiving $10,000.

Voting closes Sunday 28 September 2025.

Submit vote

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025
(More information, View all 48 photos)

James & Riley at home [1]
I see you
Pawan, Chhattisgarh

Related information

Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot), 2024 Hoda Afshar
Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot), 2024 Hoda Afshar
Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot), 2024 Hoda Afshar
Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot), 2024 Hoda Afshar

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025

Current exhibition

from Saturday 16 August

The NPPP is an annual prize for Australian photographers. The year’s most outstanding photographic portrait is awarded a $30,000 cash prize and photographic equipment valued at $20,000 courtesy of our Imaging Partner, Canon Australia.
The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
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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