Unseen Pieter Hugo Prints To Be Shown At Taylor Wessing Exhibition

Loyiso Mayga, Wandise Ngcama, Lunga White, Luyanda Mzantsi and Khungsile Mdolo after their initiation ceremony, Mthatha, 2008. © Pieter Hugo

Previously unseen prints by the award-winning South African photographer, Pieter Hugo, will go on show in the inaugural 'In Focus' display within the National Portrait Gallery’s major global photography exhibition, the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2015.

In Focus will become an annual showcase for new work by an internationally-renowned photographer, which will be exhibited alongside the photographs selected anonymously from the competition entries. As the first ever In Focus artist, Hugo was chosen by the Gallery for his uncompromising, insightful and occasionally provocative approach to portraiture.

Submissions for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2015 are now being accepted until Monday 6 July 2015. For the first time, entrants to the competition are being encouraged to submit works as a series – either a group of individual portraits based on a particular theme, or two or more photographs that form a single portrait when shown together – in addition to stand-alone portraits. One series of photographs submitted to the competition may be chosen by the judges to be exhibited in its entirety. In another change to the competition, there is now no minimum size requirement for submitted prints.

Pieter Hugo is known for his documentary-style portrait photographs of marginalised communities in Africa. His photographic projects have included honey gatherers in Ghana, boy scouts in Liberia and taxi washers in Durban. Hugo’s most recognised work is The Hyena & Other Men from 2007, a collection of striking portraits of the ‘Hyena Men’ who roam the streets of Nigeria’s cities accompanied by hyenas and baboons, performing for crowds and selling traditional medicine. The project attracted media attention in 2011 when commentators suggested that it was the inspiration behind Beyoncé’s music video for her single Run the World (Girls).

Hugo’s most recent publication, Kin, is a collection of images from the past decade and focuses on his personal experience in his native South Africa – his family, the community, and himself. Hugo has exhibited world-wide, published eight volumes of work, and won numerous international awards, including two prizes at Rencontres d’Arles in 2008 and the Seydou Keita Award at the Bamako Encounters African Photography Biennial in Mali in 2011. Hugo was also shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 2012.

The Photographic Portrait Prize, sponsored by Taylor Wessing since 2008, is one of the most competitive photography awards in the world and showcases the work of some of the most exciting and cutting-edge contemporary photographers. Since the international competition began in 1993, it has remained a hugely important platform for portrait photographers and offers an unparalleled opportunity for celebrated professionals, emerging artists and amateurs alike.

The competition is open to anyone over the age of 18. Full information about how to enter, including entry forms and rules, can be found online at the National Portrait Gallery website. Also featured on the website are four short videos in which renowned contemporary photographers reflect on the competition and what winning or being shortlisted for the Photographic Portrait Prize has meant to them. 

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