PORTRAIT PRIZE 2020
Winners Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize 2020

Watch the video about het nominees and winners of the Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize and the Rabo Photographic Portrait Talent 2020.

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Winner Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize 2020: Sanne Donders

Sanne Donders is the winner of the Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize 2020 with her portrait of artist Lukas Vonk (18).  ‘This photo does not scream, but whisper. Slowly the image unfolds; we keep discovering things and it keeps giving us more detail. Photographed in the hallway of his school, this boy effortlessly transcends the unimaginative environment, those dull brick walls.’ (From the jury report)

The jury, chaired by Bart Rutten (Creative director Centraal Museum, Utrecht), compiled a long list of thirty-two portraits from the approximately 500 submissions. Five portraits were placed on the shortlist. The winner receives a cash prize of € 10,000, was announced on Friday, November 20, 2020.

©Sanne Donders, Lucas Vonk, 2020
©Sanne Donders, Lucas Vonk, 2020

Sanne Donders spontaneously made the portrait of Lukas Vonk (18), a visual artist from Geulle, South Limburg, as she was fascinated by his persona. ‘ I‘m glad that I was able to convey this through the photo and that the jury appreciates this portrait so much.’ says Donders.

Sanne Donders (1982) studied at the Royal Academy of Visual Arts. She mainly works as a portrait photographer on her own projects and commissioned by Het Algemeen Dagblad, Rabobank Kunstzone and the Doelen Magazine, for which she photographs artists. Her book About Everything that Looks Like Nothing was published mid-November 2020

Rabo Photographic Portrait Talent
For the third 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 and the Pictoright Fund as an incentive to a student or professional who has worked as a photographer for under five years at the time of submission.

Fourteen longlist portrait series have been selected from over 100 submissions. The jury was particularly impressed this year by the high quality and shortlisted four instead of three series.

The energy of the young generation of photographers can be felt in their work. They are very good at making choices and selections; the work often looks concentrated and well-defined. The winner of the Rabo Photographic Portrait Talent, has also been chosen unanimously, and will receive 2,500 euros.

Winner Rabo Photographic Portrait Talent 2020: Colette Lukassen with the series ‘Emma’

‘About Gijs who becomes Emma, or just is, but mainly about the relationship between the model and the photographer. All photos are loving, sensitive, honest and timeless. The gender story is in fact not the actual topic. They are just really good pictures of a girl and her friend.’ (From the jury report)


Colette Lukassen (1967) is a self-taught documentary and portrait photographer. Lukassen has been exhibiting since 2016 and has been nominated and selected for various prizes. In 2019 she was the overall winner of the National Geographic photo competition (NL and BE).

Read more about the nominees:
Rabo Photographic Portrait PrizeSanne DondersJulia GuntherFrank RuiterSander Troelstra and Els Zweerink.
Rabo Photographic Portrait TalentHajar BenjidaVera van DamColette Lukassen and Sterre Fenna van der Waals.

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 and the Pictoright Fund.

Previous winners are Koos Breukel, Stephan Vanfleteren, Gerard Wessel, Annaleen Louwes, Sander Troelstra, Jitske Schols, Sarah Mei Herman and Robin de Puy, who won the prize twice.

Jury 2020
Chair: Bart Rutten (Artistic Director Centraal Museum, Utrecht)
Verily Klaassen (Head of Art Affairs, Rabobank Netherlands)
Sybren Kuiper (Graphic designer)
Philippien Noordam (Senior Art Advisor/Curator at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Robin de Puy (Winner Rabo Photographic Portrait Prize 2019)

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.