Top art award for Tahlia

The Carmel resident and photographer submitted a university project she began at the start of the year to the Hyper Vision Art Exhibition ” and took home a top prize.

Tahlia (19), who fell in love with visual arts when she took a Year 11 photography class 1 at high school, said she used a layering style when creating the self-portrait, titled Self-Portrait Triptych.

‘I wanted to tell an in-depth story about myself and I love the layering look,’ she said. ‘I was so surprised to win the award because there were so many good artists that had submitted their amazing work.’

Tahlia said she wanted to pursue a career in graphic design but aimed to continue her photography work ‘on the side’.

Photographer, graffiti artist and rapper Tumaini Lupala (17), of Midland, took the runner-up prize in Hyper Vision for his piece The Throne.

While the multi-talented teenager is buzzing from his photography award, he is keen to ‘get serious’ about his music and record his first track.

Tumaini spends his spare time rapping at a Midland youth centre or creating graffiti artwork on canvas, which he gives away to friends and family.