Making history at the National Portrait Gallery
History was made when Stephen’s portrait of Lawand Hamadamin was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery. In its 168 year history, never before had the Gallery exhibited a portrait of a deaf person by a deaf photographer.
In 2016, Lawand’s family fled the Iraq war overnight, and arrived in Derby, UK with only the clothes on their backs.
In my portrait, Lawand and his brother Rawa are playing in the bedroom of their sparsely-furnished shelter in a Derby backstreet.
“Hey! I’m Spiderman!” says Lawand as he climbs the bedroom wall. Rawa looks on admiringly at his brother’s cheeky antics.
It’s very basic here. Naked light bulbs, bare walls, mattresses on the floor. But it’s home. It represents sanctuary from war.
Stephen Iliffe with his portrait of Lawand Hamadamin - exhibited at National Portrait Gallery from 10 Aug-10 Sept 2023.
One of the judges, the royal portrait photographer Millie Pilkington explained her reason for choosing Stephen’s portrait:
“Compositionally strong, great verticals, diagonals and triangles which lead your eyes around the image. The portrait not only shows the children’s ability to invent games to pass the time using their imaginations but also the strong bond between the brothers… I love how the bedding would protect Lawand should he fall. It’s symbolic of how they are trying to protect themselves at a time when the outcome of their family’s application for asylum - having fled the war in Iraq - is still unknown.”