It's a travesty but I completely forgot to blog about my annual trip to NPG to wonder amongst the photographic genius at the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. I made my way down to London on a frosty December afternoon to escape the post christmas blues and an escapism is exactly what I found.
The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2010 collected the work of emerging artists, with 60 portraits selected for the exhibition from a staggering 6,000 submissions entered by 2,401 photographers from around the world.
This years winner of the Prize is David Chancellor.
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| David Chancellor's 'Huntress with Buck' |
It's a salient image of 14-year-old Josie Slaughter astride a horse with a buck she had killed earlier in the day during her first hunting trip. The 49-year-old photographer said of the first prize photo:
'Josie had hunted her buck earlier in the day and was returning to camp... The contrast between the peace and tranquility of the location, plus Josie's ethereal beauty and the dead buck, was what I wanted to explore. Here was a vulnerability and yet also a strength.'
This photograph is so hauntingly beautiful. Everything about the photo is perfect, the juxtaposition of the soft lighting and panoramic setting to the raw brutality of the subject matter. Chancellor has managed to capture the pride of Josie's first kull with such elegence that its enchanting.
The Second Prize went to Greek photographer Panayiotis Lamprou for Portrait of my British wife part of his Human Presence project. The portrait was taken at the couple’s summerhouse on the Schinousa in the Aegean Sea on a hot summer’s day.
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| Portrait of my British wife by Panayiotis Lamprou |
Lamprou says
“I never showed it to anyone. Only she knew about it. When she saw it she said that even if it wasn't a nude the photograph has the same power to express”.
I cannot decide whether or not I like this photo or not ... I suppose thats what makes it so entriging. I can't help but feel as-though I have just witnessed something that I shouldn't have, thats how intimate and private this photo is. Its honest but is it too honest for the English sense of modesty?! I think it might be. I don't want to look at her so publicly exposed, does this make me a prude? Probably. This photograph causes the viewer to question themselves, it evokes an immediate reaction. Whether you like it or hate it at least you have an opinion on it. And as for my verdict ..
I am still undecided.
Here are some of the other photographs that I found inspiring:
