Australian National Photographic Portrait Prize
Finalist. Australian National Photographic Portrait Prize at The Australian National Portrait Gallery
Memu Conteh
Yvonne Morris, an Australian-Filipino dual national, had always dreamed of becoming a body piercer: ‘That lasted about a year. Throughout that year I had the mindset that I would grow as a piercer, modify my body in so many ways. I was so comfortable with my appearance – with my tattoos – up until recently [when] I have felt more self-conscious, being in the fashion industry as a model. I have constant thoughts that maybe I should give it up because I have tattoos, but modelling is where my passion lies.’
Finalist. Australian National Photographic Portrait Prize at The Australian National Portrait Gallery
Alyssa Braithwaite
The sitter for this portrait is Alyssa Braithwaite, a journalist at the Australian Associated Press, and a friend and colleague of my wife's. I first met her a couple of years ago and was instantly struck by her. She does not conform to the traditional notion of beauty, yet she is one of the most beautiful women I know. She has the most beautiful and engaging eyes, and an almost sad, melancholy expression. She has that certain naivety of an uncorrupted soul. With this image, I wanted to capture that beauty and innocence and stripped the shot down to the bare minimum. We scrubbed away any semblance of makeup and framed the shot to include no reference to clothing. We also pulled back her hair to further simplify the image.