世界上最大、最富爭議的肖像獎「Taylor Wessing獎」首次接受數字格式作品

天下 06-29

Katie Walsh by Spencer Murphy

國家肖像畫廊（National Portrait Gallery）的泰勒·威森攝影肖像獎（Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize）設置了1.5萬英鎊的獎金，並再次開始接受數字格式作品。國家肖像畫廊的泰勒·威森攝影肖像獎旨在啟發辯論，甚至引起爭議，幾乎沒有其它全球性攝影獎能夠如此飽受爭議。

對於其詆毀者來說，人們總是嘲笑泰勒·威森獎經常把獎項頒給拍攝女孩和女人的攝影師，而且被攝者通常是紅頭髮，並抱著小動物，這使得這個獎看起來重複而保守。對於其支持者，泰勒·威森肖像獎的主題具有連貫性，且易辨識，這是大多數其他攝影比賽缺乏的。

事實上，這兩個觀點都有點不公平，因為近年來，這個獎項已經開始接受更多樣化的肖像作品。以2014年獲獎者David Titlow為例，一個時尚攝影師拍攝的自己的家庭照，在照片中他把自己的新出生的兒子介紹給家裡養的寵物狗，同時周圍擠滿了前來參加祝賀晚會的朋友們。而最近，Claudio Rasano，他在2016年拍攝的南非約翰內斯堡一名年輕的小學生形象贏得了大獎。

現在泰勒·威森攝影肖像獎是世界上最受尊敬和最具競爭力的攝影獎之一，它開始接受數字化格式的作品。該獎項現在將接受通過大賽數字平台的入口上傳的圖像作品，任何人都可以通過互聯網上傳作品，他們甚至可以接受手機拍攝的圖像。

National Portrait Gallery』s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize innovates again by opening up the world-famous competition - with a ￡15,000 prize - to digital entries, as previous winners discuss how their careers took off despite the award』s ongoing controversial reputation.

The National Portrait Gallery』s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize manages to divide opinion, inspire debate and even provoke controversy like virtually no other global photographic award.

For its detractors, the joke is that the Taylor Wessing competition so often awards prizes to photographers who have taken pictures of girls and women, usually with red hair, holding animals – something that makes the prize it look repetitive and conservative. For its supporters, the Taylor Wessing portrait prize has a thematic coherence and identity most other photography competitions lack.

In fact both viewpoints are a little unfair, because in recent years the prize has started to award a far more diverse range of portraits. Take for the example the 2014 winner David Titlow; a fashion photographer who won with his image of his infant son being introduced to a dog, surrounded by friends the morning after an idyllic midsummer party.

And more recently Claudio Rasano, who won in 2016 for his image of a young schoolboy in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Now, the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, one of the most revered and competitive photography awards in the world, is going digital. The prize will now accept images uploaded via the competition』s new digital portal, from anyone with an internet connection, anywhere in the world, even accepting images taken on mobile.