I just spent a couple of days in Canberra, pretending to be a musician. I was playing a couple of blues gigs with Tony Pedrosa and Henry Swlinka as “The Hawks” and I took some time to visit the new National Portrait Gallery.

First of all, some observations about the gallery: Wow! I love this place. A nice gallery, with a wonderful collection. lots of great portraits on display, and some interesting contrasts.

As I also pretend to be a photographer, my primary interests were in the photographic images on display. Let’s accept that I’m biased in this way.

Amongst the recent acquisitions on display there were five – count ’em: five – Max Dupains. All together, in a row. And there were some other Dupains in other sections of the gallery. All great images, truly. And they all displayed not simply the mastery of photography that we expect from Max’s work, but each of them seemed to me to display a softness that I’d never noticed in his work before. Not a softness in terms of focus, perhaps a slight softness in terms of exposure and contrast settings, but definitely a softness in the manner within which the images are composed and made. Wonderful!

Three Bill Hensons, big, bold, and brilliant. No controversy over these images, though; these were images of a rock musician at work.

Other portraits there presented, as I mentioned above, some interesting contrasts, such as paintings by Martin Sharp, along with, elsewhere, a portrait of Sharp. This happens with several artists, where we can see their work and a portrait of the artist as well. This is something that I think we rarely get to glimpse, and adds to the strength of what this gallery has to offer.

A number of bronze heads, including Jack Brabham and Peter Brock, next to one another.

Many of the images challenge what I think is considered to be traditional portraiture, and that is not a bad thing. As a photographer, being challenged in terms of creating images, and what makes an image, is a part of the process.

As well as the permanent display, there is also currently running a display of images from the National Photographic Portrait Prize, 2009. There are some great images presented here. And I mean some truly great images.

And then there’s the winning image. 🙁

In its full size, and as presented, looks far more impressive, and far stronger, than it does as presented in the press, and/or on the internet. That’s about the best that I can say about this image. It’s lighting is basically even and ok, but the composition, the posing, the attention to detail …. this image, for me, is probably the weakest image in this selection, and I really don’t like it. Yes, it certainly challenges what I think a portrait might be, but not in any way that I think is beneficial.

Contrast that with the image by Peter Luck. This image is particularly masterful, combining his (new) photo with one taken by his subjects, Pat and Lewis Morley, fifty years ago. He has recreated the older image, and combined the two side by side. The concept is great, and the execution even better, displaying an empathy with his subjects.

Kim Batterham’s image of Bruce Pascoe is well made and wonderfully presented: at the end of the room, sharing its wall with one other, somewhat similar, image. Striking in its presentation, it is sharp, well exposed, and just a great image.

Another image that took my fancy is Bradley Wagner’s Taylor, Shorncliffe. This is a scene that to me is reminiscent of Patonga in the 1950s. That’s actually a somewhat redundant statement: Patonga, to me, is perpetually stuck in the 50s. The notes with the image describe it as having a Sunday feel, and yes, that is correct. It is a subdued, desaturated image, with a wonderful feel behind it.

Heide Smith’s “Surrounded by Music” shows Larry Sitsky, surrounded by books and manuscripts. The lighting in this image is wonderful, and the exposure just perfect.

Nikki Toole’s image of Daniel, as displayed on the web, did not impress me at all. It looks weak and anemic, with little to commend it. However, and as with the prize winning entry, this image, in person, looks very different. But whereas the winning entry fails to convey to me any aspects of it being a good portrait, this one, when viewed up close and personal, is just beautiful.

Kevin Miller’s “Reflections of Youth” seems to break a lot of rules. And I think that’s precisely why this image works.

This gallery is a wonderful addition to the various attractions that Canberra has to offer, and the hour or so that I spent there today has placed it very firmly in, for me, the top attractions that Canberra has to offer Australia.