Photo of young man on Belfast estate up for Taylor Wessing prize

A young man looking out pensively across a Belfast housing estate, a holidaying family with a bulging roof rack, and a portrait of an artist’s late mother have been shortlisted for one of international photography’s most important awards.

The contenders for the Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize, organised by the National Portrait Gallery, were praised by organisers, who said this year’s showcased works featured “inspiring and emotive narratives of community”.

One of the three finalists is Irish photographer Enda Bowe, who shot a portrait of a young man named Neil on a housing estate in south Belfast. “Free from political and geographical context, the photographs speak of longing, yearning, aspirations and vulnerabilities of young people in Belfast today,” Bowe said.

The north-eastern seaside town of Whitley Bay is featured in The Hubbucks, a portrait by British photographer Garrod Kirkwood, which focuses on a family departing for a holiday. Kirkwood described it as a “magical moment and portrait of a family and group of individuals that we all can relate to”. He said the shot, which features a family car packed with a picnic basket and an inflatable orca, was “a cinematic scene from real life”.

Photographer Pat Martin, who is based in Los Angeles, also drew on the theme of family and had two photographs from his series Goldie (Mother) accepted. The pictures focus on his late mother who struggled with addiction.

Martin said: “For most of my life, I misunderstood my mother and witnessed how the world misunderstood her. Photographing her became a way of looking into a mirror and finding details never noticed. There were always new ones to discover, and something new to hide.”

The annual portrait prize is judged anonymously and receives submissions from professional and amateur photographers from around the world. This year there were 3,700 submissions entered by 1,611 photographers from 70 countries. A total of 55 portraits will go on display at an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, which runs from 7 November until 16 February 2020.

Last year, Alice Mann won the award for her pictures of all-female teams of drum majorettes in South Africa’s Western Cape province. She made history as this was the first time a portrait series had won. Mann, who said the work continued her focus on “notions of femininity and empowerment”, was picked out of a shortlist of four artists, who had been selected from 4,462 submissions by 1,973 photographers from 70 countries.

The winner of the first prize will receive £15,000, the second prize winner receives £3,000, and there is £2,000 for the third prize. The winners will be announced on 5 November.