Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2011 Exhibition at National Portrait Gallery

I went to a exhibition at National Portrait Gallery to see the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize candidates and winning photograph. Many different photographers enter, both young new artists and established professionals hoping for the chance of winning and getting their work shown in one of the top gallery in the country. The work is picked anonymously and judged according to its photographic values.

One photographers work I liked was Olive Selling Dresses by Kenneth O Halloran. What I liked about the images is the angle of the camera, shot at a low eye level, something unusual when viewing a child. The tones work amazingly, the cold pale blue tones of the dresses on display in the background contrast well with Olive's Freckled warm skin tone and clothing. He found Olive at a boot sale, so I'm some way this is a form of candid street photography. He asked for her permission and her parents before talking the picture, and I think he did a wonderful job in capturing her.

Another artist work that captured my attention was Oliver by Kelvin Murray. The surreal qualities of the image is what drew my eyes towards it most, a young boy in a raincoat standing in a shower with a sad face. For me the whole pictures has a very depressing and defeated feeling with in it, as well as a feeling of silence. These feelings are heightened by the use of pale pastel tones and dull shadow. Something quite quirky and unexpected about this photographs is that Oliver actually won in a raffle to be photographed.

When looking at Micheal Britt's Photograph of actress Kiera Knightly I was quite sceptical at first. As I felt it was unfair to be entered as by using a famous person it put the rest or at least most of the other candidates in the competition at a disadvantage. As many of the viewers will connect much more easily because there is already fame around the sitting and it can be related to because she has been seen before. However this picture hung on a wall at the far back of the exhibition and was still already to capture my eye from far away. It really grabs your attention because it has a good composition, interesting colour palette and soft lighting. Something else quite refreshing about this picture is that it is unphotoshopped, strange to see a celebrity like this. Yet I feel it is this that makes the picture so powerful. Making her seem more human like everybody else, still able to get wrinkles. The simplicity is also beautiful, a simple head and shoulder shot, which allows you to really appreciate her beauty.

However the winner of the Taylor Wessing Prize was a disappointment, as well as the runners up. To be honest I felt quite sad when moving around the exhibition as I was surprised that this work is meant to be the top portrait photography being made in the country. But I felt like I was walking around a room full of mostly depressing people staring down the len of the camera. There was little excitement as all the picture where pretty much the same. The winner was a portrait of a young girl with a somber face holding a ginger guinea pig that matched her hair by photographer Jooney Woodward entitled Harriet and Gentleman Jack. A ginger child with animals won last year, giving the impression that if you wish to win enter a pretty ginger child with a cute fluffy animal.