MAKING A MARK: Shortlist for £15,000 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 + Exhibiting Photographers

The annual Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize is one of the most prestigious photography awards in the world.

For the 2018 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize - and Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery:

4,462 submissions were entered by 1,973 photographers from 70 countries.
57 portraits from 49 photographers have been selected for display (1.27% and 2.48% of submissions and photographers respectively)
4 submissions are a series; and
4 photographers have been shortlisted for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2018, the international photography award organised by the National Portrait Gallery, London. and sponsored by the law firm Taylor Wessing

This post is about the shortlisted artists and also lists the names of the photographers selected for the exhibition.

The Competition

The competition is open to everyone aged 18 and over from around the world. Photographers are encouraged to interpret portrait in its widest sense of photography concerned with portraying people with an emphasis on their identity as individuals.

Competition is INTENSE just to get selected for the exhibition. Moreover this competition has an enthusiastic international following. So to get shortlisted as well must feel like the most tremendous achievement for any photographer.

Like the BP Portrait Prize, the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize offers an important internationally recognised platform for professionals, emerging artists and amateurs alike to show their work - except in this instance the portrait are contemporary photographic portraits.

All submissions are judged anonymously. The exhibition typically displays a wide diversity of styles which reflect both cultural preferences and the individual styles of the photographers submitting entries and their approach to portraiture.

Photographers were again encouraged to submit works as a series in addition to stand-alone portraits, and there was no minimum size requirement for prints.

The winner of the first prize will receive £15,000.
The second prize winner receives £3,000 and
the third prize £2,000.

The prizes for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 will be announced on Tuesday 16 October 2018 at 19.00

Shortlist for Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

The shortlisted portraits include

two photographs of women living in London

a double portrait of a pair of shoppers taken in England’s capital.
photographs of a London mother holding her baby;

two photographs of children living in Africa

a child from a remote village in the jungle of Sierra Leone’s Eastern Province;
a series on the all-female teams of drum majorettes in South Africa’s Western Province

The following four photographers have been shortlisted for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2018:

Max Barstow

Untitled
from the series Londoners by Max Barstow 2017
© Max Barstow

‘I began creating the series with the aim to make un-posed portraits with the intensity of images made by great studio portrait photographers such as Richard Avedon and Irving Penn. The photograph selected is a strongly composed and graphically-arresting image. It freezes a pair of friends shopping in the flow of a busy Summer Sunday afternoon in the centre of London. I believe the image is peculiarly interesting as a portrait in that it was taken swiftly in the middle of a crowd of passers-by – it is, unusually, both a formally successful portrait with a classic studio-aesthetic and a street photograph in the broad idiom of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Garry Winogrand.’

Age: 25.05.1994

Nationality: British
Occupation: photographer
Current home: London
Education: ?
Previous appearances in this award: ?
Exhibitions: ?
Website: http://www.maxbarstow.com/

His website illustrates an interest in images about city life and the relationship between individuals and their environment. The second series, which this photographs is taken from is odd - not because it is monochrome, but because he has "zapped" all background detail competing for attention and made their location anonymous - so the eye focuses on the subject alone.

Enda Bowe

Cybil McAddy with daughter Lulu
rom the series Clapton Blossom by Enda Bowe 2018
© Enda Bowe

‘the (Clapton Blosson) series focuses on finding the colour and beauty in the urban, the light in the grey. At the centre of the housing estate where this project was made stands a huge cherry blossom tree, the unifying heart of the estate. The beauty of the blossom, symbolising hope, optimism and new beginnings connects the people within the project together.’

Age: 21.05.1972
Nationality: Irish
Occupation: Photographer
Current home: London
Education: ?
Previous appearances in this award: First time?
Exhibitions: work exhibited at Red Hook Gallery, New York, The V&A Museum, London, Fotohof, Salzburg, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, and The Visual Centre Of Contemporary Art, Ireland.
Website: http://www.endabowe.com/

Joey Lawrence

Portrait of 'Strong' Joe Smart
from the series Tombo's Wound by Joey Lawrence 2017
© Joey Lawrence

‘Rather than just creating images that underscored Tombohuaun’s plight’, ‘WaterAid and I envisioned a portrait study of the community that would highlight its resilience, its fraternity, its highly organized structure, and its work ethic. These are all the traits that will enable the village to thrive and sustain its clean water resources and practices long after the NGO has completed its work.’

Age: 05.11.1989
Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: photographer
Current home: Brooklyn, New York
Education:
Previous appearances in this award:
Exhibitions:
Website: https://joeyl.com

His photography is celebrated for both his humanitarian projects and high-profile commissions of images of well-known people. He has dedicated a lot of time, resources and passion on projects that emphasize the humanity in underserved communities.

Commissioned by WaterAid, Lawrence’s shortlisted portrait of Joe Smart is part of a series shot in Tombohuaun, translation ‘Tombo’s Wound,’ a remote village tucked into the jungle of Sierra Leone’s Eastern Province struggling with water-borne illnesses.

Alice Mann

Tanique Williams, Cape Town, South Africa, 2018
from the series Drummies by Alice Mann
© Alice Mann

‘For these girls, involvement in ‘drummies’ becomes a vehicle for them to excel, and the distinctive uniforms serve as a visual marker of perceived success and represents emancipation from their surroundings. Continuing my consideration into notions of femininity and empowerment in modern society, it was my intent to create images that reflect the pride and confidence the girls achieve through identifying as ‘drummies’.’

Age: 05.09.1991
Nationality: South African
Occupation: photographic artist
Current home: London
Education: BA Photography (major) Cape Town University
Previous appearances in this award: ?
Awards: received a number of awards including Joan Wakelin Bursary
Website: http://www.alicemann.co.za/

Her shortlisted series was shot in South Africa’s Western Province, focusing on the all-female teams of drum majorettes.

Exhibiting Photographers

‘What was particularly striking about this year’s entries to the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, was the variety of approaches, techniques and styles of the photographs submitted from around the world. I hope that the works selected for the shortlist and 2018 exhibition continue to inspire and engage visitors with photographic portraiture today.’Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London

This year’s judging panel was

Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Chair (Director, National Portrait Gallery, London);
Miles Aldridge (Photographer);
Shane Gleghorn, Managing Partner, Taylor Wessing LLP;
Sabina Jaskot-Gill (Curator of Photographs, National Portrait Gallery, London);
Renée Mussai (Senior Curator, Autograph ABP) and
Sophie Wright (Global Cultural Director, Magnum Photos).

The photographers selected to display their portrait in the 2018 Exhibition are:

Anoush Abrar
Rhiannon Adam
Pedro Alvarez
Meredith Andrews
Richard Ansett
Max Barstow
Shahid Bashir
Enda Bowe
David Brunetti
Maria Konstanse Bruun
Alejandra Carles-Tolra
Nigel Clarke
Michael Clement
Tom Cockram
Dylan Collard
Toby Coulson
Robin de Puy
Vincent Desailly
Guen Fiore
Charlie Forgham-Bailey
Sophie Green
Mohamed Hassan
Erica Hawkins
Adam Hinton
Kovi Konowiecki
Joey Lawrence
Claudia Legge
Kati Leinonen
Kurtiss Aaron Lloyd
Andy Lo Po
Alice Mann
Max Miechowski
Riina Monthan
Eddie Mulholland
Dan Nelken
Colin Pantall
Baud Postma
Phil Sharp
Aline Smithson
Jared Soares
Juan Trujillo Andrades
Carla van de Puttelaar
Muir Vidler
Trisha Ward
Eddie Wrey
Sam Wright
Darrin Zammit Lupi
Francesco Zinno
Alice Zoo

The Exhibition

The exhibition will be on display at the National Portrait Gallery between 18 October 2018 – 27 January 2019.

Admission is

Admission £6 with donation (concessions £4.50)
£5 without donation (concessions £3.50)

This year’s exhibition will also feature previously unseen prints from a new body of work by Japanese photographer Rinko Kawauchi.

Catalogue

There will be a fully illustrated catalogue including all photographs from this year’s exhibition. It features interviews with the prize-winners. Paperback. RRP £15.

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Wednesday, September 05, 2018

Shortlist for £15,000 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2018 + Exhibiting Photographers