The London gallery has announced the 2016 shortlist for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize.
The prize winning portraits include photographs of a group of Israeli Orthodox Jews by Kovi Konowiecki; a Johannesburg school boy by Claudio Rasano and a Californian surfer and his girlfriend by Joni Sternbach.
One of the most prestigious international photography awards, the Taylor Wessing Photography Portrait Awards celebrates and showcases new work submitted by contemporary photographers. The competition began in 1993 and has gone on to become an important platform for portrait photographers as well as emerging artists.
For this year’s competition, it has been widened to allow photographs on supports other than paper, in addition to photographers being encouraged to submit works as series as well as stand alone portraits.
The prize winning photographs and those selected to be included in the exhibition were selected from 4,303 submissions entered by 1,842 photographers from 61 different countries. A total of 58 portraits from 44 artists were selected for display.
The exhibition will also feature unseen prints from a body of new work by the award-winning Spanish photographer, Cristina de Middel. These prints will form the second In Focus display, an annual showcase for new work by an internationally renowned photographer, which will be exhibited alongside the photographs selected from the competition entries.
Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery, said: “In an exhibition remarkable for its range of subjects and styles, the quality of this year’s shortlisted works reflects the outstanding level at which photographers across the world are working today.”
The prize for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2016 and the winner of the fifth John Kobal New Work Award will be announced on Tuesday 15 November 2016.
Taylor Wessing Photography Portrait Prize 2016 will be on display from the 17th November until the 26th February 2017. For more information and to book tickets visit: http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/twppp-2016/exhibition.php.