David Titlow Is The Winner Of The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize

David Titlow

The fashion photographer David Titlow, was named the winner of the 2014 Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize at an awards ceremony at the National Portrait Gallery. The photographer’s winning portrait was called ‘Konrad Lars Hastings Titlow’, which is the name of his infant son; was taken the morning after a large midsummer party in Sweden.

“Everyone was a bit hazy from the previous day’s excess. My girlfriend passed our son to the subdued revellers on the sofa – the composition and back light was so perfect I had to capture the moment.” Sated the photographer to the Guardian.

Titlow is a former musician turned fashion and advertising photographer. He has been working in the industry since the early 90s, and during his career has been commissioned by the Guardian, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and Vice magazine, among other publications. The photographer wins £12,000 from the Taylor Wessing Prize and his will be the star picture in the exhibition which opens to the public, at the London gallery, on Thursday.

Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery, said of Titlow’s photograph to the Guardian that the work was: “a fascinating and compelling image”. He added: “I offer my thanks to all the many photographers who submitted this year allowing the judges to choose such a strong exhibition.”

The second prize of £3,000 was awarded to Jessica Fulford-Dobson, for an image entitled ‘Skate Girl’, the photograph came from a body of work that documents Afghan girls attending the Skateistan project in Kabul, a scheme that provides education, leadership teaching, cultural awareness and, finally, skateboarding. Birgit Püve was third in the competition with her photograph of nine-year-old Estonian twin boys holding a chicken; and Blerim Racaj was fourth with his image of Kosovar youths.

The John Kobal new work award, for photographers under 30, which went to Laura Pannack, who is a Central St Martins graduate, for her photograph of a young Jewish girl named Chayla at Shul. The photographer wins a prize of £4,000 and a commission to shoot a sitter connected with the UK film industry for the National’s collection.

The judges selected a total of 59 portraits for the exhibition out of 4,193 submissions which were entered by 1,793 photographers.

Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize is at the National Portrait Gallery 13 November to 22 February

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