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Prize Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery

by Zoe Strimpel
Mon, 12 Nov 2007 at 7:05 PM
updated Tue, 13 Nov 2007 at 12:38 AM

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The National Portrait Gallery's Photographic Portrait Prize is a chance for the work of amateurs, students, and part-timers as well as established photographers to deck the hallowed halls of one of London's most august galleries. The winner goes home with £12,000 and a good deal of respect. It was announced last week that this year's winner is a former Israeli army photographer, Jonathan Torgovnik, who won for his portrait of a Rwandan woman holding her baby, the result of a rape, in front of her two other daughters. "On the surface, this is a portrait of a beautiful mother and her children," Mr. Torgovnik said. "Her beauty is there, yes, but there is something quiet and terrible behind that." This picture is one of a series called "Intended Consequences: Mothers of Genocide, Children of Rape," for which Mr. Torgovnik photographed 20 women and children in Rwanda.

Oddly, however, this photo was less impressive than expected. It was somehow dull and a little static, and the concept seemed worthy but not that interesting from an artistic point of view. My companion agreed — we were both more interested in another young Israeli's brilliant picture of Ian McKellen looking oceans deep in thought (portrait by Nadav Kander). The second prize winner, the Argentinian Julieta Sans, also came up trumps with her portrait of a fitfully absorbed friend in Rio de Janeiro. The young woman, still living in her family home, looks younger than her years, with girlish bangs and ragged clothes. The painting captures a poignant but unselfconscious moment between childish dependence and adulthood. Another standout was "Hogar Materno 1" by Susie Forman, part of a series of women photographed in the maternity ward of a Cuban hospital. Here a pregnant woman sits on the edge of a bed smiling mysteriously into the camera.

There were a lot of pictures of children playing in groups or alone in fields, popping out of long grass fronds — some in this last category were excellent, with truly surprising props, like a fishing rod still hanging with a large, glistening fish.

The gallery felt close and dense — there is a lot to fit in the room. This year saw a record 2,700 entrants (679 more than last year) who submitted nearly 7,000 images. Of course, only a fraction of these make it into the gallery and a good number of them (though not all) are truly worth the trip.

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