Father-daughter project one of fifty entries in Canberra National Portrait Gallery competition

A Melbourne photographer’s Covid-19 inspired, intergalactic composition of his young daughter could be the next portrait to win the gallery’s National Portrait Prize.

The Shuttle, a National Portrait Prize entry by photographer Andrew Rovenko, showing his daughter Mia in Melbourne during lockdown. Picture: Andrew Rovenko

A portrait of four-year-old Mia travelling on a bus in her space suit is one of 50 entries in this year’s National Portrait Prize run by the National Portrait Gallery.

Titled The Shuttle, the young astronaut is captured on one of her “exploration missions” using her imagination to escape the “mundane world” of Covid-19 lockdowns. Behind the lens is Mia’s father, Melbourne photographer Andrew Rovenko, who moved to Australia from Ukraine about 17 years ago.

Rovenko’s National Photographic Portrait Prize entry is one of several instalments from an unplanned photography project ­titled The Rocketgirl Chronicles, which started as a result of Melbourne’s sixth lockdown.

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The key theme is the photographer’s daughter in her space suit as she navigates a world confined by Covid restrictions. “With no more rainbows on the pavements … what once was a Covid lifestyle novelty is now a tried, tired and desensitised daily routine,” Rovenko said in the project’s statement.

“Still, everyone figured out their own way to keep going … The lockdown will end. We’ll outgrow the costume. But the time spent ­together exploring and imagining is one special gift to keep.”

Rovenko’s entry will be showcased from June 25 to October 9, with a $30,000 cash prize and $20,000 in Canon photography equipment up for grabs.

Past winners include Rob Palmer in 2020 for his portrait The mahi mahi, and Alana Holmberg for her portrait Greta in Her Kitchen, 36 weeks, a year earlier.