From the Guardian · · 2m
Head On Portrait awards 2026 winners
Ten striking portraits chosen for the 2026 Head On awards, each telling a story of resilience, connection or survival.
In brief
Ten striking portraits chosen for the 2026 Head On awards, each telling a story of resilience, connection or survival. The Head On Portrait awards 2026 selected ten photographs celebrating human dignity, from an Aboriginal elder to a Gaza survivor to brothers bound by love. Originally reported by the Guardian.
Winner: strength and dignity
Aunty Lorraine, a Yuin/Gunai Kurnai elder and senior Coomaditchie artist, won the award.Photographer Sylvia Liber captured her standing with the quiet authority of someone who has lived through loss and continues to guide her community.
Australian runner-up: literary legends
Joy Mei En Lai photographed Ivor Indyk and Evelyn Juers, who founded Giramondo Publishing thirty years ago. The portrait uses theatrical lighting and historical European painting composition to frame the couple in their living room.
International runner-up: saved from flames
Gideon Mendel photographed Jennifer May Nickel standing in the burnt ruins of her home in Altadena, an unincorporated community of Los Angeles.
Love and loss in rural Australia
T W Baker photographed friends Imogen Grist and Marcus Index in Orange, NSW in January 2026 during a heatwave.
Survival and unbearable loss
Mahmoud Abu Hamda photographed Ikram Nasr from Rafah, who survived severe burns in 2014 after an airstrike hit a petrol station.
An anglophile in an English setting
Jouk Oosterhof photographed Florian Myjer, a contemporary Dutch actor and theatre maker known for adaptations of English literary classics.
First contact with contemporary Australia
Ross Swanborough photographed Angelina, known as Tjaruwa, born in the Great Victoria Desert, and her son Damien.Tjaruwa lived traditionally until 1986, when her family joined Spinifex people.
Brothers bound by love and respect
Simon Harsent photographed Julian and Luke, brothers whose relationship is built on love, loyalty and unwavering respect.
Drought laid bare in NSW
Julie Spencer photographed two landowners naked in a cracked basin of a dried-up dam during extreme drought in NSW.
The one thing
The Head On Portrait awards 2026 selected ten photographs celebrating human dignity, from an Aboriginal elder to a Gaza survivor to brothers bound by love.
