David Rosetzky’s work Lyu with Orchid (2017) is currently on view at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), Canberra, as a part of the retrospective exhibition looking back at highlights of the National Photographic Portrait Prize from the past twenty years. A part of the NPG collection, Lyu with Orchid exemplifies Rosetzky’s layered approach to photograph, wherein his collaboration with his sitters and use of multiple exposures echoes the fluidity of identity and queer experience.
On the work, Rosetzky explained the following, ‘This portrait of champion Australian ballroom dancer Lyu Masuda is from my ongoing series of analogue, black-and-white, double-exposure photographs made with a 35mm film camera. The process allows me to combine one exposure with another in ways that cannot be fully anticipated. I am interested in the misalignments, chance compositions and unexpected relationships that emerge through this technique. Having worked with portraiture for many years, this series brings together images of flowers with individuals from LGBTQIA+ communities’.
National Photographic Portrait Prize Retrospective
22 August – 11 October 2026
National Portrait Gallery
Canberra, ACT