Wouter le Duc (1989) is the winner of the Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 with his portrait of Daniëlle Zawadi. The jury: ‘A remarkable portrait, probably because of its subtlety. Only after looking a little longer does it unfold fully to us. The photographer lets us get very close to the person portrayed – literally and figuratively. (…)’
The jury, chaired by Verily Klaassen (Head of Art Affairs, Rabobank Netherlands), compiled a long list of nineteen portraits from the approximately 700 submissions. Five portraits were placed on the shortlist. The winner who receives a cash prize of € 10,000, was announced on Wednesday, November 30, 2022.
Wouter le Duc (1989) portrayed writer Daniëlle Zawadi (1999) in the Oud-Amelisweerd country house in Bunnik. Zawadi attended a talent development program for young writers: Slow Writing Lab. Le Duc: ‘In my development as a photographer there have always been specific portraits that mark a next step – this is one of them. I had a natural click with Daniëlle and while making this portrait I felt the space and opportunity to take the next step in terms of use of light’.
Rabo Photographic Portrait Talent
For the fifth time there is a prize for photographic portrait talent.
Talent is defined as follows: photography students or photographers who graduated from a Dutch photography academy, as well as self-taught photographers who have been active as a professional photographer for less than five years.
The Rabo Photographic Portrait Talent is awarded to the maker of the best portrait series made in the past year. The prize is awarded by the Portrait Gallery, Rabobank as an incentive to a student or professional who has worked as a photographer for under five years at the time of submission.
Ten longlist portrait series have been selected from around 130 submissions.
Rabo Photographic Portrait Talent 2022
Laura Chen (1997) is the winner of the Rabo Photographic Portrait Talent 2022 with her series Words From Dad. The jury: ‘This is a strong concept serving a personal story. Laura Chen takes you into her family history, shows the fusion of different cultures in her images and creates an image for herself and the viewer of who her grandfather – sometimes surrounded by his loved ones – was. It’s amazing how vintage photography and timelessness merge in this work.’
Laura Chen (b. 1997) never knew her grandfather, Tek Suan Chen. Her father’s stories about him intrigued her; about adaptatie to a new (Western) culture and about the multicultural upbringing of her father. For example, her grandfather also had a Dutch first name: Peter. In her photomontages, she merges Chinese and Dutch culture into a new identity. She sews several images together to create a series of family portraits.
Read more about the nominees here:
Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 Wouter le Duc, Bonnita Postma, Robin de Puy, Eva Roefs and Prins de Vos.
Rabo Photographic Portrait Talent 2022 Laura Chen, Hossein Fardinfard and Sander Coers.
The prize
The winner of the Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize receives 10,000 euros and will be included in the Rabo art collection. In addition, the work may be acquired by another international art collection.
The winner of the Rabo Photographic Portrait Talent will receive 2,500 euros and the work may be acquired.
From November 5 to 30, visitors of the exhibition could vote for their favorite portrait. The winner is Wouter le Duc. He received 1.000 euros.
Exhibition
The shortlisted portraits of the Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 and a portrait from the series of the Rabo Photographic Portrait Talents 2022 were exhibited from November 5, 2022 – March 11, 2023 in the Rabo Art Collection space at the Depot of Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.
From April 6 – May 13, 2023, the shortlisted portraits of the Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 by Bonnita Postma, Robin de Puy, Eva Roefs and Prins de Vos and Wouter le Duc, were on display in Amsterdam.
Jury 2022
Verily Klaassen (Head of Art Affairs, Rabobank Netherlands) – Chairman
Martijn van de Griendt (Winner Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize 2021)
Sybren Kuiper (Graphic designer)
Philippien Noordam (Senior Art Advisor/Curator at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Guinevere Ras (Curator Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam)
Erik Vroons (Chief Editor GUP Magazine and freelance curator & writer)
About
The Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize is awarded yearly to the photographer who took the best photographic portrait of the past year. The prize is awarded by Dutch National Portrait Gallery in collaboration with Rabobank.
Previous winners are Koos Breukel, Sanne Donders, Stephan Vanfleteren, Gerard Wessel, Annaleen Louwes, Sander Troelstra, Jitske Schols, Sarah Mei Herman, Martijn van de Griendt and Robin de Puy, who won the prize twice.
Submission 2023
In the summer/autumn of 2023, there will again be an opportunity for professional photographers to submit portraits. Keep an eye on our website and social media channels. Or sign up for the newsletter here.
