I have just made the annual pilgrimage to Elephant and Castle (LCC) to drop off my print entries to this years NPG Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize.
For anyone that considers themselves a portrait photographer being included in the final exhibition of the prize would be the ultimate recognition by your peers. But is it the case that such a prestigious competition could, or should, define you? There is a stigma attached to the prize a running joke among photographers that to get in it you need to shoot a ginger, freckled, miserable looking teenager. And having viewed the exhibition many times it has to be said that there is not much joy displayed. Is it true then, to say that the majority of people are melancholy, awkward or miserable? Or is it closer to the mark that a miserable or awkward looking portrait holds a higher pedigree in that it asks unanswerable questions about the subject and by default the viewer?
Like everyone I have had my own opinions on the images that have progressed and won in the past, some I like, some I don’t. My personal view is that a portrait should show a part of the person that is the subject - a visual representation of their aura in the present, in the flesh. All too often it looks to me like the photographer has projected their own interpretation of what a strong portrait is onto the subject they are charged with representing, I often don’t see a person but an idea of representation polluted by the photographers motives.
There is (as we all know) no right or wrong way to approach your work, and all we can do is execute it with the highest integrity we can, and hope that the execution translates our vision as we intended.
To pander to what you think would be judged right by the peers of a competition, no matter how highly regarded would be to water down the integrity of you work, and you would therefore probably have less chance of progressing.
This year I entered two prints, one I would say fits in well with the historical style that has been successful in the comp. The other is a portrait of a model called Meryl. I had to enter this because it is - to my eyes - as true a representation you will get of a person in a photograph that I have taken. It was shot during a break on a commercial shoot, we were chatting and I happened to have the camera in my hand, I photographed the moment without any consideration, even the composition is slightly awkward and unconsidered, but it all add to the moment that she was just being. Meryl.
I have more technically proficient images, I have images that are more instantly arresting and I have images that are more poignant. But this image is Meryl, when you look at it you see her, not me, or my idea or her, it is Meryl as she is when you meet her.
Who knows how I will do, I guess I have as much chance as anyone, I believe in the integrity of my portrait and that is all I can do. And if I am really lucky maybe next year there will be an image of someone smiling in the exhibition.
| LA |
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