THE People’s Choice award for this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize has gone  to Andrew M Lance for his Canberra-located self portrait, “Andrew 2013,” according to the National Portrait Gallery.

Lance’s self-portrait  taken under Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, Lake Burley Griffin. The figure in the frame gives a sense of scale to the scene and the lines of the  bridge across the lake. He chose the  long exposure technique   to bring out the vivid lighting of the bridge, the water and himself as sitter.

This is the third People’s Choice award and the gallery says, “it reinforces the democratic credentials of the prize with over 2000 visitors to the exhibition voting for their favourite portrait.”

It’s not a cash prize, but Lance wins a day’s studio hire in either Melbourne or Sydney, sponsored by Sunstudios.

The final 45 portraits in the exhibition were chosen from 1400 entries from around Australia. It had already been announced that the  $25,000 cash prize for the best photograph had gone to Andrew Cowen for his portrait of Matthew Martin.

On receiving the news Lance said, “I am very honoured. The National Photographic Portrait Prize is the premier photographic portrait prize in the country and to be selected as a finalist was already a great accolade. To be awarded the People’s Choice is superb!”

Exhibition curator Sarah Engledow commented “Andrew Lance has done Canberrans a great service by taking a shot that will forever alter the perception of those who’ve seen it, and pass that place – their experience of the place will be overlaid by, or underpinned by, his art.”

The National Photographic Portrait Prize 2014 exhibition will now tour to Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery,  Cowra Regional Art Gallery, Wangaratta Art Gallery  and Devonport Regional Gallery.