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The Advertiser
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
The winner of this prize couldn't hold back her tears
Hoda Afshar hadn't planned on entering her work into Australia's largest photographic portrait prize this year - especially as she'd already won once. But enter she did, hoping only that her work be selected as a finalist - knowing she would be among thousands of similar hopefuls. On hearing her work had won the National Photographic Portrait Prize for a second time, she couldn't hold back her tears. "I submitted this work, hoping it might be selected as one of the finalists, in order to draw public attention to the ongoing crisis facing Indigenous children in youth detention across Australia," she said. Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot) 2024, is part of a collaboration with a group of First Nations young people in Far North Queensland that questions a system that targets and imprisons them from the age of 10. The project, facilitated by the Cairns-based Youth Empowered Towards Independence and Change the Record in Sydney, invited participants to have their portraits taken, using a means of their own choosing to conceal their identities while making a personal statement. "Some of them chose flowers or bubbles. Others a flag, mask or face paint. The three girls here chose this gesture," Afshar said. "As a photographer, I am always seeking to disrupt such ways of seeing, and this is why I chose to submit this portrait. For me, these girls' gestures symbolise an act of resistance both against authority and towards the camera - a refusal to be, or to be seen, as passive." For 18 years, the National Photographic Portrait Prize has celebrated photographic portraiture in Australia. Open to established and emerging artists, the prize is an opportunity for artists to have their work shown in a national gallery, where it will be seen by thousands of people. The judges this year, Benjamin Law, National Portrait Gallery senior curator Serena Bentley, and Art Gallery of South Australia curator of contemporary art Leigh Robb, described it as a portrait of "immense power, which creates an urgent conversation between the viewer and subjects". "By handing agency over to her subjects, Hoda Afshar has given these First Nations young people the rare opportunity to frame themselves on their own terms," they said. "As part of a group that are often discussed and depicted but rarely given a voice, these figures observe us in turn, giving an assessment of the nation right now. While seemingly incidental, the relationship between the haphazard staging, blurred background and focus points in the foreground make for a bracing, brilliant photograph taken by an artist who truly knows her craft." Hoda Afshar is a Melbourne-based visual artist and documentary maker, currently working in Berlin. This is the second time she has won the National Photographic Portrait Prize, the first in 2015 with the work Portrait of Ali, 2014. She wins $30,000 cash courtesy of the gallery and $20,000 worth of equipment courtesy of Canon Australia. Sherry Quiambao is the inaugural winner of the First Time Finalist Award, with Mother dreams on a stone, 2024. Quiambao is an Australian-Filipino multidisciplinary artist based in Perth. Mother dreams on a stone is a glittering portrait of her mother that explores themes of renewal, identity and belonging. "Wrapped in a golden emergency blanket and resting on a tumbled stone, my mother represents strength and adaptability, finding hope through her migration story," the artist writes. "The golden blanket, a symbol of safety and care, contrasts with the grounding presence of the stone. Together, they reflect the tension between aspiration, humility, fragility and resilience." National Portrait Gallery director Bree Pickering said the 2025 finalist portraits, 48 in all, represented artists and sitters from all states and territories. "The exhibition foregrounds the artist's voice," she says. "In each of the finalist works, subjects are revealed from the artist's point of view. The works are an invitation into the intimate world of a subject/artist relationship and a reflection of the people who make up the communities in which we all live." Sydney-based artist George Fetting received the 2025 Art Handlers' Award for his portrait Antonio Intili - Sartoria (Tailor Shop) #1, 2024. This intimate portrait of Antonio Intili in his tailor shop captures him in a moment of reflection. Fetting is a four-time National Photographic Portrait Prize finalist, and receives a $3000 cash prize. The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025 will be on show from August 16 to October 12. All finalist works can be viewed, with tickets to the exhibition available on the gallery's website at The final prize, the People's Choice Award, decided by members of the public, will be announced in October, with the winner receiving $10,000 cash. All finalists receive artist, copyright and licencing fees as well as freight costs and travel allowances. Hoda Afshar hadn't planned on entering her work into Australia's largest photographic portrait prize this year - especially as she'd already won once. But enter she did, hoping only that her work be selected as a finalist - knowing she would be among thousands of similar hopefuls. On hearing her work had won the National Photographic Portrait Prize for a second time, she couldn't hold back her tears. "I submitted this work, hoping it might be selected as one of the finalists, in order to draw public attention to the ongoing crisis facing Indigenous children in youth detention across Australia," she said. Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot) 2024, is part of a collaboration with a group of First Nations young people in Far North Queensland that questions a system that targets and imprisons them from the age of 10. The project, facilitated by the Cairns-based Youth Empowered Towards Independence and Change the Record in Sydney, invited participants to have their portraits taken, using a means of their own choosing to conceal their identities while making a personal statement. "Some of them chose flowers or bubbles. Others a flag, mask or face paint. The three girls here chose this gesture," Afshar said. "As a photographer, I am always seeking to disrupt such ways of seeing, and this is why I chose to submit this portrait. For me, these girls' gestures symbolise an act of resistance both against authority and towards the camera - a refusal to be, or to be seen, as passive." For 18 years, the National Photographic Portrait Prize has celebrated photographic portraiture in Australia. Open to established and emerging artists, the prize is an opportunity for artists to have their work shown in a national gallery, where it will be seen by thousands of people. The judges this year, Benjamin Law, National Portrait Gallery senior curator Serena Bentley, and Art Gallery of South Australia curator of contemporary art Leigh Robb, described it as a portrait of "immense power, which creates an urgent conversation between the viewer and subjects". "By handing agency over to her subjects, Hoda Afshar has given these First Nations young people the rare opportunity to frame themselves on their own terms," they said. "As part of a group that are often discussed and depicted but rarely given a voice, these figures observe us in turn, giving an assessment of the nation right now. While seemingly incidental, the relationship between the haphazard staging, blurred background and focus points in the foreground make for a bracing, brilliant photograph taken by an artist who truly knows her craft." Hoda Afshar is a Melbourne-based visual artist and documentary maker, currently working in Berlin. This is the second time she has won the National Photographic Portrait Prize, the first in 2015 with the work Portrait of Ali, 2014. She wins $30,000 cash courtesy of the gallery and $20,000 worth of equipment courtesy of Canon Australia. Sherry Quiambao is the inaugural winner of the First Time Finalist Award, with Mother dreams on a stone, 2024. Quiambao is an Australian-Filipino multidisciplinary artist based in Perth. Mother dreams on a stone is a glittering portrait of her mother that explores themes of renewal, identity and belonging. "Wrapped in a golden emergency blanket and resting on a tumbled stone, my mother represents strength and adaptability, finding hope through her migration story," the artist writes. "The golden blanket, a symbol of safety and care, contrasts with the grounding presence of the stone. Together, they reflect the tension between aspiration, humility, fragility and resilience." National Portrait Gallery director Bree Pickering said the 2025 finalist portraits, 48 in all, represented artists and sitters from all states and territories. "The exhibition foregrounds the artist's voice," she says. "In each of the finalist works, subjects are revealed from the artist's point of view. The works are an invitation into the intimate world of a subject/artist relationship and a reflection of the people who make up the communities in which we all live." Sydney-based artist George Fetting received the 2025 Art Handlers' Award for his portrait Antonio Intili - Sartoria (Tailor Shop) #1, 2024. This intimate portrait of Antonio Intili in his tailor shop captures him in a moment of reflection. Fetting is a four-time National Photographic Portrait Prize finalist, and receives a $3000 cash prize. The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025 will be on show from August 16 to October 12. All finalist works can be viewed, with tickets to the exhibition available on the gallery's website at The final prize, the People's Choice Award, decided by members of the public, will be announced in October, with the winner receiving $10,000 cash. All finalists receive artist, copyright and licencing fees as well as freight costs and travel allowances. Hoda Afshar hadn't planned on entering her work into Australia's largest photographic portrait prize this year - especially as she'd already won once. But enter she did, hoping only that her work be selected as a finalist - knowing she would be among thousands of similar hopefuls. On hearing her work had won the National Photographic Portrait Prize for a second time, she couldn't hold back her tears. "I submitted this work, hoping it might be selected as one of the finalists, in order to draw public attention to the ongoing crisis facing Indigenous children in youth detention across Australia," she said. Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot) 2024, is part of a collaboration with a group of First Nations young people in Far North Queensland that questions a system that targets and imprisons them from the age of 10. The project, facilitated by the Cairns-based Youth Empowered Towards Independence and Change the Record in Sydney, invited participants to have their portraits taken, using a means of their own choosing to conceal their identities while making a personal statement. "Some of them chose flowers or bubbles. Others a flag, mask or face paint. The three girls here chose this gesture," Afshar said. "As a photographer, I am always seeking to disrupt such ways of seeing, and this is why I chose to submit this portrait. For me, these girls' gestures symbolise an act of resistance both against authority and towards the camera - a refusal to be, or to be seen, as passive." For 18 years, the National Photographic Portrait Prize has celebrated photographic portraiture in Australia. Open to established and emerging artists, the prize is an opportunity for artists to have their work shown in a national gallery, where it will be seen by thousands of people. The judges this year, Benjamin Law, National Portrait Gallery senior curator Serena Bentley, and Art Gallery of South Australia curator of contemporary art Leigh Robb, described it as a portrait of "immense power, which creates an urgent conversation between the viewer and subjects". "By handing agency over to her subjects, Hoda Afshar has given these First Nations young people the rare opportunity to frame themselves on their own terms," they said. "As part of a group that are often discussed and depicted but rarely given a voice, these figures observe us in turn, giving an assessment of the nation right now. While seemingly incidental, the relationship between the haphazard staging, blurred background and focus points in the foreground make for a bracing, brilliant photograph taken by an artist who truly knows her craft." Hoda Afshar is a Melbourne-based visual artist and documentary maker, currently working in Berlin. This is the second time she has won the National Photographic Portrait Prize, the first in 2015 with the work Portrait of Ali, 2014. She wins $30,000 cash courtesy of the gallery and $20,000 worth of equipment courtesy of Canon Australia. Sherry Quiambao is the inaugural winner of the First Time Finalist Award, with Mother dreams on a stone, 2024. Quiambao is an Australian-Filipino multidisciplinary artist based in Perth. Mother dreams on a stone is a glittering portrait of her mother that explores themes of renewal, identity and belonging. "Wrapped in a golden emergency blanket and resting on a tumbled stone, my mother represents strength and adaptability, finding hope through her migration story," the artist writes. "The golden blanket, a symbol of safety and care, contrasts with the grounding presence of the stone. Together, they reflect the tension between aspiration, humility, fragility and resilience." National Portrait Gallery director Bree Pickering said the 2025 finalist portraits, 48 in all, represented artists and sitters from all states and territories. "The exhibition foregrounds the artist's voice," she says. "In each of the finalist works, subjects are revealed from the artist's point of view. The works are an invitation into the intimate world of a subject/artist relationship and a reflection of the people who make up the communities in which we all live." Sydney-based artist George Fetting received the 2025 Art Handlers' Award for his portrait Antonio Intili - Sartoria (Tailor Shop) #1, 2024. This intimate portrait of Antonio Intili in his tailor shop captures him in a moment of reflection. Fetting is a four-time National Photographic Portrait Prize finalist, and receives a $3000 cash prize. The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025 will be on show from August 16 to October 12. All finalist works can be viewed, with tickets to the exhibition available on the gallery's website at The final prize, the People's Choice Award, decided by members of the public, will be announced in October, with the winner receiving $10,000 cash. All finalists receive artist, copyright and licencing fees as well as freight costs and travel allowances. Hoda Afshar hadn't planned on entering her work into Australia's largest photographic portrait prize this year - especially as she'd already won once. But enter she did, hoping only that her work be selected as a finalist - knowing she would be among thousands of similar hopefuls. On hearing her work had won the National Photographic Portrait Prize for a second time, she couldn't hold back her tears. "I submitted this work, hoping it might be selected as one of the finalists, in order to draw public attention to the ongoing crisis facing Indigenous children in youth detention across Australia," she said. Untitled #01 (from the series Code Black/Riot) 2024, is part of a collaboration with a group of First Nations young people in Far North Queensland that questions a system that targets and imprisons them from the age of 10. The project, facilitated by the Cairns-based Youth Empowered Towards Independence and Change the Record in Sydney, invited participants to have their portraits taken, using a means of their own choosing to conceal their identities while making a personal statement. "Some of them chose flowers or bubbles. Others a flag, mask or face paint. The three girls here chose this gesture," Afshar said. "As a photographer, I am always seeking to disrupt such ways of seeing, and this is why I chose to submit this portrait. For me, these girls' gestures symbolise an act of resistance both against authority and towards the camera - a refusal to be, or to be seen, as passive." For 18 years, the National Photographic Portrait Prize has celebrated photographic portraiture in Australia. Open to established and emerging artists, the prize is an opportunity for artists to have their work shown in a national gallery, where it will be seen by thousands of people. The judges this year, Benjamin Law, National Portrait Gallery senior curator Serena Bentley, and Art Gallery of South Australia curator of contemporary art Leigh Robb, described it as a portrait of "immense power, which creates an urgent conversation between the viewer and subjects". "By handing agency over to her subjects, Hoda Afshar has given these First Nations young people the rare opportunity to frame themselves on their own terms," they said. "As part of a group that are often discussed and depicted but rarely given a voice, these figures observe us in turn, giving an assessment of the nation right now. While seemingly incidental, the relationship between the haphazard staging, blurred background and focus points in the foreground make for a bracing, brilliant photograph taken by an artist who truly knows her craft." Hoda Afshar is a Melbourne-based visual artist and documentary maker, currently working in Berlin. This is the second time she has won the National Photographic Portrait Prize, the first in 2015 with the work Portrait of Ali, 2014. She wins $30,000 cash courtesy of the gallery and $20,000 worth of equipment courtesy of Canon Australia. Sherry Quiambao is the inaugural winner of the First Time Finalist Award, with Mother dreams on a stone, 2024. Quiambao is an Australian-Filipino multidisciplinary artist based in Perth. Mother dreams on a stone is a glittering portrait of her mother that explores themes of renewal, identity and belonging. "Wrapped in a golden emergency blanket and resting on a tumbled stone, my mother represents strength and adaptability, finding hope through her migration story," the artist writes. "The golden blanket, a symbol of safety and care, contrasts with the grounding presence of the stone. Together, they reflect the tension between aspiration, humility, fragility and resilience." National Portrait Gallery director Bree Pickering said the 2025 finalist portraits, 48 in all, represented artists and sitters from all states and territories. "The exhibition foregrounds the artist's voice," she says. "In each of the finalist works, subjects are revealed from the artist's point of view. The works are an invitation into the intimate world of a subject/artist relationship and a reflection of the people who make up the communities in which we all live." Sydney-based artist George Fetting received the 2025 Art Handlers' Award for his portrait Antonio Intili - Sartoria (Tailor Shop) #1, 2024. This intimate portrait of Antonio Intili in his tailor shop captures him in a moment of reflection. Fetting is a four-time National Photographic Portrait Prize finalist, and receives a $3000 cash prize. The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2025 will be on show from August 16 to October 12. All finalist works can be viewed, with tickets to the exhibition available on the gallery's website at The final prize, the People's Choice Award, decided by members of the public, will be announced in October, with the winner receiving $10,000 cash. All finalists receive artist, copyright and licencing fees as well as freight costs and travel allowances.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Defiantly beautiful' image of First Nations youth challenges us all
Photographer and documentary-maker Hoda Afshar has won the National Photographic Portrait Prize for the second time with a powerful image that challenges Australia's treatment of First Nations children. The Melbourne-based artist took out the $50,000 prize on Friday with Untitled #01 from her 2024 series, Code Black/Riot. Created in collaboration with young people in Far North Queensland, the series highlights laws allowing children as young as 10 to be imprisoned – among the lowest ages for criminal responsibility in the world. Afshar worked with Cairns-based Youth Empowered Towards Independence and Sydney advocacy group Change the Record. Participants were invited to conceal their identities while making a personal statement. Some chose a flag, mask or face paint. The three girls in Afshar's winning image chose a simple, defiant gesture. 'The children refuse to be passive in front of the camera or be seen as broken or as victims,' Afshar says. 'They're being cheeky and playful and funny, and they want to be seen as tough. They know the camera that is pointed at them historically wanted to capture them, looking in a certain way. They refuse to be seen like that.' Iranian-born Afshar first won the prize in 2015 with Portrait of Ali (2014), cementing her place in the Australian contemporary art scene. 'Back then I was a migrant artist who was trying really hard to convince everyone I've got something to say that could be worth hearing,' she says. 'You have to justify your position in the new country to get people to take you seriously. That moment gave me the confidence to continue doing what I'm doing now.' The seeds of Code Black/Riot were planted years ago when Afshar met lawyer Sophie Trevitt, who was campaigning to raise the age of criminal responsibility for Indigenous children. Trevitt died in 2023, but her work left a lasting impact on Afshar.
The Age
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘Defiantly beautiful' image of First Nations youth challenges us all
Photographer and documentary-maker Hoda Afshar has won the National Photographic Portrait Prize for the second time with a powerful image that challenges Australia's treatment of First Nations children. The Melbourne-based artist took out the $50,000 prize on Friday with Untitled #01 from her 2024 series, Code Black/Riot. Created in collaboration with young people in Far North Queensland, the series highlights laws allowing children as young as 10 to be imprisoned – among the lowest ages for criminal responsibility in the world. Afshar worked with Cairns-based Youth Empowered Towards Independence and Sydney advocacy group Change the Record. Participants were invited to conceal their identities while making a personal statement. Some chose a flag, mask or face paint. The three girls in Afshar's winning image chose a simple, defiant gesture. 'The children refuse to be passive in front of the camera or be seen as broken or as victims,' Afshar says. 'They're being cheeky and playful and funny, and they want to be seen as tough. They know the camera that is pointed at them historically wanted to capture them, looking in a certain way. They refuse to be seen like that.' Iranian-born Afshar first won the prize in 2015 with Portrait of Ali (2014), cementing her place in the Australian contemporary art scene. 'Back then I was a migrant artist who was trying really hard to convince everyone I've got something to say that could be worth hearing,' she says. 'You have to justify your position in the new country to get people to take you seriously. That moment gave me the confidence to continue doing what I'm doing now.' The seeds of Code Black/Riot were planted years ago when Afshar met lawyer Sophie Trevitt, who was campaigning to raise the age of criminal responsibility for Indigenous children. Trevitt died in 2023, but her work left a lasting impact on Afshar.
The Guardian
12-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Rate of Indigenous people in jail has risen by 20% since 2019, Closing the Gap data shows
The rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people imprisoned increased by 12% in a year and was up 20% since 2019 – despite state and federal governments agreeing to reduce rates of incarnation by 15% by 2031 in June 2020. Indigenous organisations have urged greater action from all governments to improve the lives of Indigenous people after new Closing the Gap data revealed child protection, Indigenous incarceration and suicide rates were getting worse. Overall, the data showed four targets were on track to be met. Six targets showed improvement but were not on track to be met. Four targets were worsening while a further four targets were not able to be assessed. The rate of Indigenous incarceration in 2024 was 2,304 per 100,000, compared with 1,906 per 100,000 in 2019 and 2,042 in 2023. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email First Nation children in out-of-home care increased from 47.3 per 1,000 in 2019 to 50.3 per 1,000 in 2024. The rate of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people reached 30.8 per 100,000 in 2023, the highest recorded since 2018, though researchers said there were caveats due to changes in population data. The most recent population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded a 25% increase in the Indigenous population between 2017 and 2021, while the Northern Territory recorded a decline in population. Productivity commissioner Selwyn Button said the Closing the Gap data showed 'the importance of governments taking their commitments to the national agreement seriously, and taking meaningful actions to fully implement the priority reforms'. 'Governments need to get better at sharing power and decision-making with community control organisations – being able to sit at the table to plan, design and implement strategies, sitting alongside community and community controlled organisations,' Button said. The commissioner said some caution of the data is needed, such as with suicide rates and the NT which showed many targets are going backwards such as worsening female life expectancy, birth weight, Indigenous early childhood education and child development, youth engagement, employment, and child and adult imprisonment rates. The latest update pointed to an increase in Aboriginal people's access to internet, with nine in 10 or just over 88% of Indigenous people aged 15 and over using the web daily. It also showed gains in native title and land rights, with just under 4.5m sq km of Australia's land mass and more than 110,000 sq km of Australia's sea country being under Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's rights or interests. 'Native title determinations are happening more frequently, and land hand backs to traditional owner groups from state governments are happening more as well which is contributing to that data.' Justice advocacy group Change the Record's national director, Blake Cansdale, said he was concerned some jurisdictions' 'tough on crime' approach was contributing to more interactions between law enforcement and First Nations people. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'The gross overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody is unequivocal evidence of successive governments failing our people across the nation,' Candsale said. 'This serves the interests of nobody other than politicians that espouse such positions; we need to focus on primary health-based and social supports that address the underlying sociocultural, emotional and economic causes of offending behaviour,' the Anaiwan man said. Lead convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, Pat Turner, who negotiated the national agreement on Closing the Gap with the Morrison government and states and territories, welcomed progress in key reforms but said there was still a long way to go. 'The growing recognition of our land and sea rights and increased digital access show what is possible when the right policies and investments are made,' Turner said. But in critical areas such as incarceration, child protection and suicide prevention Turner said there were clear 'setbacks' and urged a 'deeper understanding' between Australian governments and Aboriginal-controlled organisations working with community. 'Governments must step up and fully implement the priority reforms of the Closing the Gap agreement. 'If we are to achieve lasting change, the solutions must be led by us, not imposed upon us.'
