David Stewart wins The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2015 by restaging his 2008 entry

David Stewart has won the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2015 for a group portrait of his daughter and her friends, the National Portrait Gallery has announced. The prestigious £12,000 award was presented to the London-based photographer at an awards ceremony on November, 10.

The winning portrait Five Girls 2014 shows the photographer’s daughter with four close friends and mirrors a photograph he took of them seven years ago, which was displayed in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2008. In the original photograph, the friends were about to start their GCSEs and, in the updated version, they have just graduated from university.

Stewart says: ‘I have always had a fascination with the way people interact – or, in this case, fail to interact, which inspired the photograph of this group of girls. While the girls are physically very close and their style and clothing highlight their membership of the same peer group, there is an element of distance between them.’ This year is the sixteenth time Stewart has had a photograph selected for the annual exhibition.

Born in Lancaster, England, David Stewart began his career photographing punk bands, including The Clash and The Ramones, and the colourful characters seen on Morecambe Promenade. After graduating at Blackpool and The Fylde College, Stewart moved to London in 1981 and now works on a mix of personal projects and commissions.

Second prize has been awarded to Anoush Abrar’s photograph of a young boy, inspired by Caravaggio’s painting Sleeping Cupid; third prize has gone to to Peter Zelewski’s photograph of a woman he spotted on Oxford Street whilst working on his series Beautiful Strangers; and fourth prize was awarded to Ivor Prickett’s photograph of a displaced Iraqi family who had fled their village near Mosul after Isis took control of the area. The John Kobal New Work Award, worth £5,000, was won by Tereza Červeňová for her portrait of her friend Yngvild.

© David Stewart. Five Girls, 2014. Exhibition Info: DAVID STEWART WINS THE TAYLOR WESSING PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT PRIZE 2015 BY RESTAGING HIS 2008 ENTRY

The winning portraits will be on display as part of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2015 exhibition from 12 November 2015 to 21 February 2016. The annual exhibition is one of the most prestigious photography awards in the world and showcases new work that has been submitted by some of the most exciting and cutting-edge contemporary photographers. Since the international competition began in 1993, it has remained a hugely important platform for portrait photographers and offers an unparalleled opportunity for celebrated professionals, emerging artists and amateurs alike.

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. For the first time, photographers were encouraged to submit works as a series in addition to stand-alone portraits, and there was no minimum size requirement for prints.

The prize-winning photographs and those selected for inclusion in the exhibition were chosen from 4929 submissions entered by 2201 photographers from 70 countries.

Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery, says: ‘Congratulations to David Stewart on winning the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2015 with his intriguing photograph of his daughter and her friends. Once again, I would like to thank the thousands of photographers who entered such a variety of impressive prints from across the globe, enabling the judges to form this compelling exhibition which is, essentially, a dynamic photographic portrait of the world today.’

Tim Eyles, Managing Partner, Taylor Wessing LLP, says: ‘After eight years of sponsoring the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, we continue to be inspired by the range and merit of the thousands of photographs submitted from around the world. The winning portraits shone through with not only their creativity, quality and emotive subjects, but also with their universal appeal. Our heartfelt congratulations go to all the shortlisted photographers.’

This year’s exhibition also features previously unseen prints from a new body of work by the award-winning South African photographer, Pieter Hugo. The large prints offer a preview of Hugo’s current portraiture project in which he photographs children who were born in Rwanda and South Africa after 1994 – a year that saw momentous events in the history of both nations. The prints form the inaugural In Focus display, an annual showcase for new work by an internationally renowned photographer, shown alongside the photographs selected from the competition entries. As the first ever In Focus artist, Hugo was chosen by the Gallery for his uncompromising, insightful and occasionally provocative approach to portraiture.

The competition was judged from original prints by Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery; Dr Phillip Prodger, Head of Photographs, National Portrait Gallery; Hannah Starkey, Photographer; Anne Lyden, International Photography Curator, Scottish National Portrait Gallery; David Drake, Director, Ffotogallery, Cardiff; and Tim Eyles, Managing Partner, Taylor Wessing LLP.

TAYLOR WESSING PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT PRIZE 2015

12 November 2015 – 21 February 2016

Admission £4
Supported by Taylor Wessing
npg.org.uk/photoprize