Polly Borland (born 1959) is an Australian photographer who formerly resided in England from 1989 to 2011, and now lives in Los Angeles, United States. She is known both for her editorial portraits and for her work as a photographic artist.

Biography

Borland was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

where her father gave her a camera with

Nikkor Nikkor is the brand of lenses produced by Nikon Corporation, including camera lenses for the Nikon F-mount. Nikko parent company brand, from which the Nikkor brand evolved. The ''Nikkor'' brand was introduced in 1932, a Westernised rendering of a ...

lenses when she was 16. She graduated from

Prahran College The Prahran College of Advanced Education, formerly Prahran College of Technology, was a late-secondary and tertiary institution with a business school, a trade school, and a multi-disciplinary art school that dated back to the 1860s, populated ...

in 1983, where she discovered

Diane Arbus Diane Arbus (; née Nemerov; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971
" The New York ...

Weegee Arthur (Usher) Fellig (June 12, 1899 – December 26, 1968), known by his pseudonym Weegee, was a photography, photographer and photojournalism, photojournalist, known for his stark black and white street photography in New York City. Weegee w ...

and,

Larry Clark Lawrence Donald Clark (born January 19, 1943) is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his controversial teen film ''Kids'' (1995) and his photography book ''Tulsa'' (1971). His work focuses prim ...

, all of whom influenced her work.Rob Sharp, "Flights of fancy dress: Polly Borland's portraits marry the infantile and the fetishistic"
''The Independent'', 17 March 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2013. On leaving art school, she became a portrait photographer, contributing to the Australian edition of ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. In 1989, she moved to the United Kingdom where she specialized in stylized portraits and reportage photography. Her work has been featured in newspapers and magazines worldwide. A number of books on her work and exhibitions have been published. In 2001, her first series ''The Babies'' examined the way men can enjoy dressing up as infants, with an essay by Susan Sontag, an introduction by Mark Holborn. In 2008, she produced ''Bunny'', a collection of photographs about English actress

Gwendoline Christie Gwendoline Tracey Philippa Christie (born 28 October 1978) is an English actress who is best known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019). She is also widely known for her role the Firs ...

. ''Bunny'' also features a fairy-tale written by

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

and a poem by

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

. ''Smudge'' (2011) features abstract depictions of three of her friends she uses as models; musician Nick Cave, photographer Mark Vessey and fashion designer Sherald Lambden. All three appear half naked, faces obscured, wearing body stockings, tights, wigs, and other fanciful objects of clothing. In February 2013 the documentary ''Polly Borland - Polymorphous'' was released."Artscape: Polly Borland - Polymorphous"
ABC Television, 11 February 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013. Borland was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

in 2002. Polly Borland and her husband, director

John Hillcoat John Hillcoat (born 1960) is an Australian-Canadian film director, screenwriter, and music video director. Early life Hillcoat was born in Queensland, Australia, and was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As a child, his paintings were featur ...

, live in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California.

Works or Publications

Books

* * * * * *

Articles

Filmography

* Polly Borland - Polymorphous * MOCAtv - IO Echo "Berlin, It's All A Mess" Directors John Hillcoat & Polly Borland

Exhibitions and notable works

*1984: Polly Borland, George Paton Gallery, Melbourne *1999: ''The Babies'', 1999 Meltdown Festival curated by

, Southbank, London *1999: one of six Australian photographers exhibited in "Glossy: Faces Magazines Now" at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra"Polly Borland"
Cranekalman Brighton. Retrieved 28 February 2013. *2000: ''Australians'', National Portrait Gallery, London *2001: ''Australians'', National Portrait Gallery, Canberra *2001: ''Australians'', Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne *2002 ''The Babies'', Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne *2008: ''Bunny'', Murray White Room, Melbourne; featuring

*2008: ''Bunny'', Michael Hoppen Gallery, London; featuring Gwendoline Christie *2010: ''Smudge'', Murray White Room, Melbourne *2011: ''Smudge'', AB Gloria, Madrid *2011: ''Smudge'', Other Criteria, London *2011: ''Smudge'', Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York City *2012: ''Everything I want to be when I grow up'', University of Queensland Art Museum, Queensland *2012: ''Pupa'', Murray White Room, Melbourne *2013: ''YOU'', Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York *2014: ''Wonky'', The Australian Centre of Photography, Melbourne *2014: ''YOU'', Murray White Room, Melbourne Borland's work has also been exhibited at the

Australian Centre for Photography The Australian Centre for Photography (ACP) is a not-for-profit photography gallery in Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia that was established in 1973. ACP also provides part-time courses and community programs. It is one of the longest running con ...

, Sydney; The Auckland Triennial, Auckland; GASK, Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic; the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...

, Edinburgh; The Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; MONA, Tasmania, and the N.S.W. Gallery of Art. Borland's portrait of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, was commissioned by Buckingham Palace to commemorate her golden jubilee in 2002, is unusual for its brightness and its intimate proximity to Her Majesty. It was exhibited at London's National Portrait Gallery and at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

. Her work is included in the March 2020

Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The demo ...

at the

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

, which is titled "Monster Theatres".

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, Polly Borland and

for "Sit on My Hands" by

Frente! Frente! (or Frente) were an Australian folk- pop and indie pop group which originally formed in 1989. The original line-up consisted of Simon Austin on guitar and backing vocals, Angie Hart on lead vocals, Tim O'Connor on bass guitar (later rep ...

, Best Video , , ARIA Award previous winners. , -

References

External links

* *
Portraits by Polly Borland
in the collection of the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borland, Polly 1959 births Living people People from Melbourne Australian women photographers Australian portrait photographers Australian emigrants to England Granta people