National Film Pride

Picture Perfect:

The 2012 NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT PRIZE was awarded to Rod McNicol for his enigmatic image of indigenous elder and actor Jack Charles.

The winning work is set against a textured denim-blue backdrop. Jack stands in a pressed and polished outfit but delivers a piercing, streetwise gaze with a wry smile. There are no props, staged action or laboured symbols. As a consequence the composition might seem simple or accidental but it carries great significance for the artist. Photographer Rod McNicol favours images of artists, vagabonds and even himself where his subject stares out. This stare indicates that he (or she) is conscious of the fact that a photo is being taken, that an audience will see it and that they hold the key to present themselves however they’d like to be seen – almost like a mug shot or commissioned portrait.

Jack’s steady gaze is embellished with his wonderful head of hair, a luminescent white ‘fro. The crisp white vest Jack wears is like a spotlight in the centre of the canvas. The proliferation of white leads us to think of cleanliness, spiritualism and as NPG Director Louise Doyle noted, a sense of optimism. Perhaps these elements were emphasised through a long exposure, which is a technique Rod has used in the past as it pays respect to ‘time’ as a character in the scene. Rod has said that “a slow exposure time dictates stillness, and for me stillness is a blessing. Although stillness virtually eradicates spontaneity, it does heighten engagement.

Rod has been quoted as saying that his photographs, as a body of work, mirror a “genesis of a particular genre of portraiture which dates from the very beginning of photography itself… That self conscious stare into the camera [common] in early 19^th century photography, was no doubt intensified by the very slow exposure times required back then.” To Rod the exposure time and pose prompts us, and in this case perhaps Jack, to question ideas of mortality.

If you were to look back on this particular image in 100 years the gumption, cheek and liveliness in Jack (our living subject) would be charged with something totally different, the photograph would then function as a momento mori (a reminder of mortality). In art, and especially photography of the 1970s, a genre, or field of interest sometimes known as the ‘death awareness movement’ began. It was explored in a 2007 exhibition called Reveries held at The National Portrait Gallery, in which Rod participated.

Jack was part of the Stolen Generation and met Rod in the 1970s at The Pram Factory, Melbourne, when Jack was establishing ‘Nindethana’, an indigenous theatre group. However Jack has taken on other roles in life – notably his drug addiction and crimes that supported the habit. He has weathered the rise from “infamy to fame” and is the first to talk about his “colourful life”. A former series of photographs by Rod focused on the duality and change inevitable in life. Titled A portrait revisited series 1986–2006 two images of a single sitter were hung together, one photograph was taken in the 1980s and another 20 years later. Jack was one of the subjects and this work was acquired by The NGV.

The 46 works in this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize strike an interesting balance between race, gender, age, personal narrative and historical tides. What stands out are the majestic, sunken and crinkled images of older men whose life lessons, treasured tall stories and tangible links to arts and culture can be appreciated at face value. See; Edmond Capon AM OBE by Gary Grealy, John Bell by Daniel Boud, Richard Neville by Graham McCarter, Dr Hassan Rahimby by Andrew Campbell, Tom Keneally by James Brickwood, Jeffrey Smart by David Tacon, and Trevor Murphy by Alex Frayne. And we continue down a nostalgic road with works of the supreme matriarchs of Oz, such as Margaret Olley by John McRae, Tami Jakobson by Peter West, Sasha Trajik-Mole by David Kelly, Narayani Palmer by Dale Neill, Alamelu Ganesan by Sandra Ramacher, and Patricia Harry by Mark Tedeschi.

As for the prize-taking work, because Rod has known Jack in the best and worst of times, the image is all the more engaging and honest. About Jack, Rod has said to the press “'He’s never hidden the fact that he’s had a very troubled life… Jack has blossomed. This portrait, to my mind, is a quiet celebration of that late blossoming. That strong engagement with the viewer is the nature of the way I work.” Rod McNicol is a Melbourne-based artist and his works are in the collections of The Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, National Library, Canberra and Bibliotheque Nationale, France among others.

The 46 finalists of The National Photographic Portrait Prize can be viewed from Tuesday March 20 to Sunday May 20 at The National Portrait Gallery.