VICTORIAN photographer Adam Haddrick’s portrait of Indigenous elder Cordy, titled Cordy in the Clouds, has won the 2022 National Photographic Portrait Prize Art Handlers’ Award.
NPG Collection Officers Jess Kemister and Jacob Potter say they were ‘mesmerised’ by Haddrick’s portrait of Cordy, whose name means ‘Spirit of the Sunrise’ in the traditional language of the Tjungundji people of far North Queensland.
Haddrick says he was equally as mesmerised when he first encountered Cordy in Charters Towers.
“He shared his story and told me of a visit to India for an archaeology conference where the locals greeted him as a holy man. I hadn’t seen clouds in the sky for weeks but while taking his portrait they rolled in behind as if on cue,” he said.
For Jess and Jacob, the photo “captures a quiet and still moment, conveying a sense of calm
