Andrea Riseborough is the subject of the National Portrait Gallery’s first commissioned photograph for the John Kobal New Work Award, awarded to a photographer under the age of 30 whose work was selected for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition.
As winner of the annual award Matthew Niederhauser received a commission to photograph a sitter connected with the UK film industry for the National Portrait Gallery Collection.Riseborough was chosen by the Gallery for her outstanding contribution to British cinema and the range and depth of her characterisations.
The actress, who has just finished filming on Birdman for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Silent Storm with Damian Lewis, and Money with Brendan Gleeson for HBO, was photographed this August in Kensal Rise, London.
Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1981, Andrea Riseborough was a member of the National Youth Theatre, before graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2005. She first established her career on stage, and her performances as Isabella in Measure for Measure and the title role of Miss Julie for the Royal Shakespeare Company won her the prestigious IanCharleson Award (2006).
In 2009 Riseborough was nominated for a BAFTA for her portrayal of a young Margaret Thatcher in BBC television drama The Long Walk to Finchley. Her subsequent film career has included acclaimed roles in Brighton Rock (2010) and political drama Shadow Dancer (2012) for which she won Best Actress at the Evening Standard Film Awards, London Critics Circle Film Awards and the BIFAs. She most recently starred in science-fiction film Oblivion (2013).
Matthew Niederhauser photographed Riseborough as a resulting commission of him winning the John Kobal New Work Award in 2012 for his portrait of artist Ai Weiwei.
Niederhauser undertook a BA in East Asian languages and cultures at Columbia University, New York and an MFA in arts theory and practice at the School of Visual Arts, New York. He lives in Beijing and documents aspects of Chinese life for a range of international publications.
The John Kobal New Work Awards 2012 and 2013
The first John Kobal New Work Award commission Andrea Riseborough by Matthew Niederhauser will go on display at the National Portrait Gallery’s Room 37a from Thursday 14 November to coincide with the opening of the adjacent Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2013 exhibition.
The winner of the second John Kobal New Work Award will be announced along with all the prize winners of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2013 on the evening of Tuesday 12 November 2013.
The judges of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2013 have selected 60 portraits for the exhibition from 5,410 submissions entered by 2,435 photographers, an increase of 85 entries on last year.
This is the sixth year that international law firm Taylor Wessing has sponsored the Prize.
Simon Crocker, Chairman of the John Kobal Foundation, and judge of the John Kobal New Work Award says: ‘John Kobal was renowned for his restoration of the work and reputations of the great Hollywood Studio Portrait Photographers. This New Work Award highlighting an emerging talent in the British Film Industry is a tribute to his enthusiasm and support of cinema stills photography. I was particularly delighted that we were able to have Andrea Riseborough as our first sitter. She is one of the best actors of her generation and deservedly about to become recognised as such internationally.’
TAYLOR WESSING PHOTGRAPHIC PORTRAIT PRIZE 2013
14 November 2013 -9 February 2014, National Portrait Gallery, London, Admission £3, Concs £2
ANDREA RISEBOROUGH BY MATTHEW NIEDERHAUSER
14 November 2013 – 9 February 2014, National Portrait Gallery, London, Admission free
