There was one image that judge Isobel Parker Philip couldn't shake from her mind amongst the finalists of the 2026 National Photographic Portrait Prize.
It was Melbourne artist Nathan Beard's photograph of his aunty Mae Khong in her home in rural Thailand, bathing as she recuperated from a debilitating fall.
Ms Parker Philip said the photograph was "a really, really tender work" and even without seeing the elderly woman's face "we feel a profound emotional connection to her".
"I look at it and I see members of my family and loved ones in that image," she said.
"There's a resilience, a kind of beautiful independence in the way she carries herself, but also a sense of fatigue."
Mr Beard, 39, was on Friday announced as the winner of the 2026 National Photographic Portrait Prize, the final recipient of the award in its current format, with a new prize model to be announced in 2027.
He received $30,000 from the portrait gallery and $20,000 in photographic equipment from Canon Australia.
The win came at a sad time for Mr Beard. The subject of his work, his aunty Mae Khong, died in July, aged 84.
Mr Beard said his winning photograph had been "reactive in the moment".
"I was visiting her in Thailand in January and February and shortly before I had to leave, she had a fall," he said.
"The evening of the fall, I was the only one in the house with her and I was helping to look after her. When she insisted she wanted to bathe herself, I was hovering around to help her out.
"I'd already been photographing her throughout the trip, just silly little things like when we'd go to the market, and so this opportunity presented itself and I thought, 'I'm going to record this for posterity'.
"It was not at the forefront of my mind that it would be entered into a prize or anything. But, as it turns out, the deadline for this prize was the week that the fall had happened.
"I think of it like a final gift from her."
The 2026 Art Handlers' Award went to Melbourne photographer Hussein Abdirahman Mohamud for his portrait, UNTITLED:01 2025, of Eedo/Aunt Khadija, a resident of the Flemington public housing estate and community organiser who opposed its demolition.
Phuong Nguyen Le won the First Time Finalist award for a portrait of his father Le Ngoc Long, taken in 2025 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra will be able to see the 2026 finalists' work as well as a selection of portraits entered in the prize over the last 20 years until October 11.
National Portrait Gallery director Bree Pickering said the National Photographic Portrait Prize has captured the spirit, vitality and breadth of contemporary portrait photography.
"We are excited to present the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2026 alongside an alumni presentation of works from the past 19 years," Ms Pickering said.
"The retrospective highlights some of the most compelling, authentic and evocative portraits from over the years and, together with the 2026 finalist exhibition, offers a unique insight into the past twenty years of photographic portraiture in Australia."
The three judges for this year's competition were all National Portrait Gallery staff - Ms Parker Philip (director, curatorial and collection), Gillian Raymond (director, engagement and experience) and Mark Mohell (imaging services manager and photographer).
Visitors to the exhibition can vote in the People's Choice Award, which will be announced in early October.
