The National Portrait Gallery has today, Tuesday 4 October, unveiled the winners of the people’s choice award for this year’s portrait prize season. The entrants for the 2022 Darling Portrait Prize and the 2022 National Photographic Portrait Prize are on display at the Gallery until 9 October.
Taking home the People’s Choice Award for the 2022 National Photographic Portrait Prize was Luther Cora with Flora and Fauna, Giara: White Cockatoo. Captured during one of the Covid lockdowns, Cora shot the image of his daughter Giara in a thrown-together studio from their Gold Coast home. Cora said he was able to focus on his photography during the lockdown as he wasn’t working. The Yugambeh/Bundalung man reflected on his own thoughts on First Nations People.
“If we are still seen as cases of flora and fauna,” Cora said.
The artist also received a $5,000 cash prize from The David Roche Foundation.
“Luther Cora’s photograph questions the historic and current position of First Nations people in our community. This sensitive portrayal of Cora’s daughter is a most deserving win,” said David Reason, Museum Director of The David Roche Foundation.
The 2022 People’s Choice Award for the 2022 Darling Portrait Prize has gone to Tony Sowersby for his portrait Sabine Desrondaux, Woman of Letters, 2021. The colourful image shows Desrondaux on her postie bike with letters ready to be delivered by her side. She was one of the few people Sowersby got to see during the pandemic lockdowns.
“It’s a tribute to the courage and determination of all those who kept society functioning, and you can see those attributes on her face,” Sowersby said.
Along with the win, the artist also takes home a $10,000 cash prize, with thanks to founding benefactors of the NPG, the Liangis family.
“Given the events of the past two years, it is wonderful to see a portrait of an everyday hero selected to win this prize. It’s a great portrait, full of detail, capturing both a sense of pride and charm in the subject,” John Liangis said.
The National Portrait Prize exhibitions are on at the National Portrait Gallery until 9 October; portrait.gov.au
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