The Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize is one of the most prestigious photography competitions on the calendar, with winners using it as a platform to catapult their careers.
The National Portrait Gallery in the United Kingdom, which organizes the competition with support from Taylor Wessing, has announced the 2024 shortlist with 4 photographers chosen from 4,847 entries, each showcasing the magic of portrait photography.
The four shortlisted photographers are Adam Ferguson, Jesse Navarre Vos, Tjitske Sluis and Steph Wilson.
Adam Ferguson is an Australian photographer based in New York, USA. Three of his portraits have been shortlisted for this year's prize, each taken during one of his many trips to the Northern Territory and Western Australia, while working on his series Big Sky – soon to be released as a book by Gost Books.
The series was captured over ten years and focuses on the impact of globalization, climate change, and the colonial legacy that underpins modern Australia, shown "against the backdrop of the romanticized Outback". The three images are titled, Pintupi Luritja, Lutheran Pastor Simon Dixon, Cousin sisters Shauna and Bridget Perdjert and Hunting Trip and Kukatja Pintupi boy Matthew West, Hunting Trip.
Jesse Navarre Vos is a photographer from Cape Town, South Africa, and uses portrait photography as a way of connecting with the people around him, whether in intimate portraits or fashion editorials.
His image, Mom, I’ll follow you still, is taken from his series I’ll Come Following You. It depicts Vos' biological grandmother, though legal guardian and mother, standing in the lift of her care facility. Describing the moment of capture, Vos said he felt she was "distant, going somewhere that I couldn't follow".
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The third photographer to make the shortlist is Tjitske Sluis, from Utrecht, Netherlands. Her image, Mom, shows a tender moment of connection between her and her mother, as her mother sleeps. It is taken from the series Out of Love, Out of Necessity, which documents her mother in the final stages of her life.
The final name on the shortlist is British photographer Steph Wilson. Another body of work revolving around the theme of motherhood is her series, Mother Book, and is a look at "unconventional" examples of motherhood.
Her shortlisted image is titled Sonam and features the subject, Sonam, sitting nude staring into the camera. The unexpectedly masculine-looking short wig and fake mustache act as a call back to instances when she was encouraged to embrace her masculine features by friends and family.
The Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2024 saw 4,847 entries submitted by 1,713 photographers. Of these, 62 portraits by 55 photographers are set to be displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in London this November, in a large exhibition that will run alongside this year's In Focus display by Diana Markosian titled Father.
The exhibition will run from November 14 2024 to February 16 2025, and the winner of the prize will be announced just before November 12 2024.
The first prize winner receives £15,000 (approximately $19,300 / AU$29,100), second prize receives £3,000 ($3,800 / AU$5,800), with both third prize winners receiving £2,000 ($2,500 / AU$3,900). In addition, an £8,000 ($10,200 / AU$15,500) commission will be awarded to one of the photographers to be a permanent feature at The National Portrait Gallery.
"I am incredibly excited to host this fantastic group of photographers at the Gallery, who each bring their talents and perspectives from all over the world," says Michael Elliott, interim director of the National Portrait Gallery.
"Congratulations in particular to the four photographers shortlisted for this prestigious Prize, and I look forward to announcing the winners this winter. We are delighted to celebrate the seventeenth year of the exhibition, with continued support from Taylor Wessing."
This year's shortlist is a good reminder to shoot those close to you, as not only can you work on your technical skills without pressure or judgment, but you can also capture deeply personal and connected portraits.
For more information, visit the National Portrait Gallery website.
You might be interested in the best cameras for portraits, along with the best lenses for portraits.
