The Nation's Family Album Here is your chance to submit into ‘The Nation’s Family Album’. A nationwide search for undiscovered portraits of everyday British families, in partnership with National Portrait Gallery. Plus our Millie Pilkington will be your judge!
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ncestry®, the global leader in family history, reveals that less than a quarter (23%) of Brits display family photos in their homes. The findings* come as Ancestry calls upon the nation to submit their family images to The Nation’s Family Album – a search for undiscovered portraits of everyday British people, in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery. With the family portrait once holding prime position in the home, only 13% of Brits currently hang their family photos on their walls and one in ten (10%) display them elsewhere, such as on shelves or mantle pieces. Others store their family images digitally, either on their smartphone (15%) or their computer (13%). The research also found that photos of children (35%) are the most likely to be on show, followed by grandchildren (14%) and parents (14%) with people also putting up ‘pawtraits’ of their pets (7%). Despite one in 10 (11%) admitting to not having any photos of their family on
show, more than a third (34%) say they want more family photos, rising to 45% amongst those aged 18 to 34. Over 1,000 family photos have been submitted to The Nation’s Family Album so far, with entrants in with the chance of having their family images and stories included in a digital exhibition, as well as being displayed at the iconic National Portrait Gallery in London once it reopens in 2023. Two esteemed judges will be joining the panel of experts shortlisting the portraits that best encapsulate the project’s themes of Belonging, Legacy, Connection & Identity: Country Child, Royal and family portrait photographer, Millie Pilkington and baritone Peter Brathwaite - renowned for his series of photographs, Rediscovering Black Portraiture. National Portrait Gallery’s Chief Curator, Dr Alison Smith, and family history expert Simon Pearce from Ancestry will make up the rest of the judging panel. Millie Pilkington says, “It is an honour to be working alongside Ancestry and the National Portrait
Gallery on this inspiring initiative for the nation. Every photograph has a story to tell, but what I look for in particular are images that capture the spirit of the sitter, or the moment, and that provide some kind of ‘biographical’ insight to their personality and background. And the icing on the cake is when these are achieved with nice light in an interesting composition. I’m genuinely excited to discover the multitude of unique and fascinating family history stories within the entries!” Everyone in the UK is invited to upload their favourite family images to The Nation’s Family Album by Thursday 30 June 2022. For more information about how to submit your family photographs, and entry terms & conditions, visit ancestry.co.uk/ FamilyAlbum. Additionally, a collection of 125,000 digitised portraits from the National Portrait Gallery is now available for Ancestry users to access for free. Printed copies of the portraits can be bought from the National Portrait Gallery shop: npg.org.uk/shop/npgprints.
