Renowned Sydney portrait photographer Gary Grealy has taken out the award for the 2017 National Photographic Portrait Prize, with his portrait of Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay.
George Fetting, guest judge for the 2017 Prize, was entranced with the evocative nature of Grealy’s portrait, “Gary Grealy’s portrait is a wonderful collaboration with the sitters, Richard and Alison,” he said.” He has beautifully conveyed a mixture of subdued emotions in a simple, direct but captivating image.”
Grealy believes that his portrait of Morecroft and Mackay is reflective of his inspiration to pursues the field of portrait photography. “When I began making portraits of the artists in the 90s, the thrill of entering the domain of creativity filled me with excitement, and I must admit a little envy at the talent I saw,” he said. “I began making portraits of artists for no other reason than the love of art.”
For the first time ever, the Portrait Gallery will be awarding two finalises the title of Highly Commended: John Benavente for his portrait titled Renaissance Rose and Brett Canet-Gibson for his portrait Mastura.
People’s Choice voting opens from today, so you can vote for your favourite image online at nppp.portrait.gov.au or in person outside the exhibition space.
The National Photographic Portrait Prize opens to the public on Saturday 1 April and is on display until Sunday 18 June 2017. The exhibition will then tour around Australia. For venues and ticketing information, please visit nppp.portrait.gov.au
Click through our gallery above to view some of the finalists.
