A Virtual Tour: Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize
The annual Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, now celebrating thirteen years under Taylor Wessing‘s sponsorship, is one of the most prestigious photography awards in the world and showcases new work submitted by some of the most exciting contemporary photographers.
This year the exhibition takes a different approach to exhibiting the selected thirty-seven contemporary photographers, who were chosen from 5531 submissions by 2169 photographers from seventy-five countries. In order to reach just as wide of an audience and ensure that the competition is able to run as planned during the current Coronavirus restrictions, the exhibition has become an online tour of the gallery space. Online visitors are invited to view the portraits as they are in the gallery, approaching the images on the wall before clicking for more information and an enlarged view of the print. When viewing an image, The People’s Pick feature is also appears, giving the public the opportunity to vote for their favourite portrait.
The prize-winning photographs are judged anonymously, the diversity of styles in the exhibition reflects the international mix of entries as well as photographers’ individual and varied approaches to the genre of portraiture. Photographers were encouraged to submit works as a series in addition to stand-alone portraits.
It is somewhat surreal to be in an empty, grey gallery; exploring each piece at the comfort of my laptop. The circles on the floor indicating where I can view the space from a different perspective and take a closer look of each portrait, the virtual viewing is seamless and easy to understand how to work, and most importantly, being able to view the photographs as they are framed in the gallery. But, if this isn’t to the viewer’s preference, you are able to scroll through the photographs as a list and read their stories alongside them.
This wonderful self portrait by Silvia Rosi draws on the aesthetic of West African studio portraiture to connect with her family history and perform a fictional portrait of her father, a man she never met, as a journey of self-discovery to understand her own history through the bodies of the people who played a crucial role in shaping it. Click Here to view the full story.
While the option to click on the image to enlarge it, sadly I found it lacking in the detail I would want to see when taking a closer look at a photograph. The image is clearly compressed to not over-stress the virtual gallery and all the data it is juggling - but this is the only thing I could criticise about this exhibition! Another addition they could have featured on the gallery images is a link to the creator’s website or social media so the viewer could find more about any artists they can enjoy.
Some of My Personal Favourites
Tim Pearse’s Portrait of Rosina is a piece that highlights the changing beauty standards of woman and how women are embracing their natural bodies. This naturally lit portrait on a 10x8 camera creates a soft and beautiful image of Rosina, who is embracing her facial hair. The combining of old style photography with modern beauty is what really drew me to this image.
Much like Pearse’s work, Tara Bogart embraces using old style photography with a modern twist; using her modern hair studies to combine her work. I was drawn to Tara’s work because of the unusual concept, seeing only the back of the model’s head, it leaves the viewer wondering more about the model and what they can tell about their personality.
This wonderful portrait by Yolanda Y. Liou explores the human body and her own struggles with body image. The lighting and framing of this portrait reminds me of a renaissance painting; evoking powerful emotions within myself and telling myself to love my own body for who you naturally are.
I am not one to typically enjoy this kind of abstract photography, but I wanted to challenge myself and understand this piece of work. As I read the description, and viewed the image for a longer period of time, a face began to emerge. De Gregorio has used war documentary footage sourced from the internet which is distilled and compressed by a computer process. The faint face is of Dan Futrell, an infantry officer awarded the combat infantryman’s badge.
