By arts editor HELEN MUSA

Hussein Abdirahman Mohamud has won the Art Handlers’ Award at the 2026 National Photographic Portrait Prize for his work UNTITLED: 01, 2025, from the series What remains?

The striking portrait shows a woman sitting in her living room surrounded by packed cardboard boxes, tissues and an empty space on the wall, hinting at the experience of displacement and the disruption of home.

The work was selected from 30 finalists chosen from more than 1000 entries. The finalists were judged by Bree Pickering, director of the National Portrait Gallery, with Isobel Parker Philip, Gillian Raymond and Mark Mohell.

The Art Handlers’ Award, presented by the National Portrait Gallery, carries a $3000 prize courtesy of IAS Logistics.

The winner of the 2026 National Photographic Portrait Prize will be announced on Friday at the Portrait Gallery.

The National Photographic Portrait Prize opens at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra on August 22 and continues until October 11, before touring nationally.

News all day, every day at CityNewsQBN.com.au.