Aesthetica Magazine – An Intimate Portrait

The National Portrait Gallery, founded in 1856, hosts the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. It was originally intended “to promote through the medium of portraits the appreciation and understanding of the men and women who have made and are making British history and culture.” Today, more than 250,000 photographs have been acquired by the museum. They tell a story of the nation through the people who shape it, not just monarchs and rulers but artists, writers, overlooked figures and everyday heroes. The gallery hosts the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize, an award which showcases the work of talented young photographers, gifted amateurs and established professionals who present the very best in contemporary photography. Previous winners include Abbie Trayler-Smith, Alys Tomlinson and Hendrik Kerstens. The award is often a vital platform for emerging artists, helping to propel their careers forward. In an interview with the British Journal of Photography, 2012 winner Jordi Ruiz Cirera said: “Winning the Taylor-Wessing back in 2012 was definitely a tipping point in my career as a photographer…[it] was a stepping stone which allowed me to meet with editors and prospective clients, as well as giving me the confidence that things were on the right path.” This year’s prize winners are Steph Wilson, Adam Ferguson, Tjitske Sluis and Jesse Navarre Vos, who were narrowed down from 5,000 submissions. Together they represent how the medium can be used for social activism and shine a light on the realities of 21^st century life. 

Steph Wilson’s portrait, Sonam, was announced as the overall winner of this year’s prize. Part of her series documenting unconventional and “imperfect” examples of motherhood, the image features the eponymous sitter after the two had met over Instagram. Wilson put a call out for a-typical mothers who were willing to be photographed for the project and share their experiences of being a parent. Sonam stares directly at the camera, unsmiling and in a wide-legged sprawl. Adult and baby are both entirely naked, unabashed in their nudity. Her closely cropped hair and moustache make for an unexpectedly masculine image, although the facial hair is actually false. It is both a statement of her career as a wig maker and a call back to instances when she was encouraged to embrace her masculine features by family and friends. The artist balances, blends and broadens conversations on parenthood and gender.

Australian photographer Adam Ferguson’s project Big Sky was taken over the course of ten years. It depicts the impact of globalisation, climate change and colonial legacies on the Australian Outback. The ‘bush’ spans over two million square miles and dominates 70% of the country’s total land mass, often romanticised in novels, poems and songs. Ferguson pushes against these ideals, showcasing an environment in decline. He photographs a local pastor at an Easter service, reflecting on the Lutheran missionaries who established Christian communities in this remote part of the country a century ago and transformed the nomadic life of indigenous populations. Elsewhere, two Indigenous women sit overlooking the vast landscape, wearing t-shirts emblazoned with global popstar, Taylor Swift. The photograph explores the tension between fantasies of the Outback depicted in history and popular culture, with encroaching commercialisation. 

Dutch photographer Tjitske Sluis brings mortality to the fore in the series Out of Love, Out of Necessity. Sluis came to photography through journalism, drawn to the storytelling power of photographs. Captured with intense vulnerability and intimacy, the pictures show the artist’s mother, Teuntje, in the final stages of her life. Despite her frail form, Teuntje’s “infectious spirit” is echoed through her bold lip-patterned jumper. The overriding feeling is one of trust, the bonds of kinship and resilience in the face of declining physical health. The work is also a testament to the power of art to make real, tangible change in the world. It is photography as social activism in action. The series was initially published in the De Volkskrant newspaper and directly engaged with the ongoing care crisis in the Netherlands; the response to Sluis prompted a debate in parliament about the issue. Empowered to use her photography to bring about meaningful change, the artist is now pursuing a master’s degree in care ethics.

The Prize’s longlist, included in the exhibition, boasts a huge variety of talent from international photographers. Sandra Nagel uses the lens to expand the realms of fashion photography, capturing subjects with honesty, authenticity and grace through an appreciation of beauty in all its forms. The images document and celebrate the intimate nature of youth culture, as well as ultimately calling for social change. The centering of a community is echoed in Latoya Okuneye’s work All eyes on me, which aims to depict the liberation of the body. The black experience is central to its narrative as is the potential to celebrate the body shown as universal as Okuneye casts a non-binary model to challenge gender constructs. Nick van Tiem, meanwhile, plays with colour to create scenes that feel as though they’ve jumped from the page of a comic book, with unique locations and graphic narratives. 

Each of the winning portraits are on display until 16 February at the National Portrait Gallery, London alongside works by 51 other lens-based artists. They will be exhibited alongside a display of Diana Markosian’s Father. Markosian’s work is at the forefront of a new generation of photographers, pushing the boundaries of documentary storytelling. Visitors to the exhibition can traverse the deeply personal stories that each photographer shares, stepping into different lives and seeing the world through new eyes. The exhibition is a chance to encounter the figures driving forward portraiture and new images that are worthy of sitting alongside the gallery’s historic collection.   

The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2024 runs until 16 February 2025: npg.org.uk

Words: Emma Jacob

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