National Photographic Portrait Prize

It’s time!

Entries are now open for the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2023. One of our most popular annual events, the prize promotes the best in contemporary photographic portraiture by both professional and aspiring Australian photographers.

The winner will nab a $30,000 cash prize from us AND photographic equipment courtesy of our Imaging Partner, Canon Australia. There are other excellent prizes too, including Highly Commended supported by EIZO and an Art Handlers’ Award thanks to IAS Fine Art Logistics.

ARTISTS

1. To enter you must be:

1. aged 18 years or over at the time of entry,

2. an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and

3. the sole copyright holder of the work or you have obtained, will declare and make available all required third party intellectual property rights (including copyright) consents or licences.

2. If the work is a collaboration, artists must enter jointly.

3. Officers, directors and employees of the NPG (together with their immediate families) are not eligible to enter.

ENTRIES

4. Your entry must be:

1. a photograph, created using either traditional photographic emulsion or digital process in a two-dimensional format,

2. a portrait in a broad sense (see below),

3. your original work,

4. a photograph taken after 1 December 2021, and that was not submitted for entry to any previous NPPP,

5. submitted electronically for the first round of judging.

5. Entries that have been selected for exhibition in any other Australian or international prize, or as a finalist for any online prize, at the time you submit your entry are not eligible.

6. Portraits featuring officers, directors and employees of the NPG (together with their immediate families) are not eligible for entry.

7. When considering whether an entry is a portrait, the NPG will have regard to the following:

1. whether the work is a recognisable image of an individual person, identity or group of persons,

2. the subject of the portrait may be anyone,

3. group portraits and self-portraits are acceptable,

4. whether the portrait is taken by the entrant from life (ie. a living person or group of people),

5. cultural understandings of the notion of portraiture that might differ from the western notion of a portrait as a likeness of a physical person are acceptable, and

6. photographs taken using video communication technology (such as Zoom) are acceptable.

SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES

8. Entries open on 1 November 2022 and close at 9am (AEDT) 31 January 2023 and may only be submitted online.

9. You may submit up to six entries.

10. When submitting each entry, you must:

1. fill in all the required fields,

2. submit a brief statement of a maximum of 100 words about the work. You must obtain the consent of each subject for this statement or explain why that consent could not be obtained (you must provide this if you are selected as Finalist). If selected as a Finalist, the NPG may edit the text for consistency,

3. confirm you are the sole copyright holder of the work, or you have obtained and will make available all required third party intellectual property rights (including copyright), consents or licenses,

4. confirm you have obtained the informed consent from all subjects, or explain why you were unable to obtain the subjects consent (you must provide this if you are selected as a Finalist),

5. upload a single digital jpg file, at least 2400 pixels wide or tall, with a sRGB colour profile, and maximum file size of 15MB. Original prints (physical copies) of entries will not be accepted for the first round of judging, and

6. pay a non-refundable entry fee of $30 (including GST) for each entry (i.e. $180 for six entries).

11. After your entry has been submitted you can edit, delete or replace it any time up until the closing date.

12. Payment must be made with a Mastercard or Visa debit/credit card. If you delete an entry, you will not receive a refund.

FIRST ROUND OF JUDGING

13. The first round of judging will be conducted using the electronic images submitted by each artist. If your entry is selected by the judges for display in the NPPP exhibition, you become a finalist (Finalist). You will be notified by COB on 1 March 2023 whether you have been selected as a Finalist.

14. The members of the judging panel will be decided solely by the NPG.

EXHIBITION

15. The NPPP exhibition (the Exhibition) includes the following:

1. the work is exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra from 17 June to 2 October 2023,

2. the work may be included in the NPPP travelling exhibition tour for all or part of that tour. Works may be excluded from the travelling exhibition tour, and

3. digital reproductions of the works may also be exhibited in other spaces and formats (for example, as a digital image reproduction at a travelling exhibition venue).

16. The NPG can remove works from all or part of the Exhibition at its absolute discretion.