The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2008

Exhibition for this photographic portrait competition at the National Portrait Gallery .

There were some wonderful images in this show but I’d argue that a staged scene with an actress is not a portrait but this photographic equivalent of a history painting.

The image advertising the show by Hendrick Kerstens is probably the best. It looks like a Dutch C17th picture but when you look closely the wonderful headdress is a plastic carrier bag! Other stunning images include Leon Greeman, an Auschwitz survivor by Joel Redman, a Swedish fighter caught in mid air by Keith Price and two men dressed as Klingons by Steve Schofield.

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