A NEWPORT photo has been selected - out of more than 30,000 submissions - to feature in an exhibition a the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The Hold Still exhibition was unveiled by the Duchess of Cambridge and the National Portrait Gallery, in London, yesterday and features 100 portraits chosen from 31,598 submissions.

South Wales Argus:

The Duchess of Cambridge was heavily involved in the Hold Still project. Picture: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

The project, which launched in May, invited people of all ages across the UK to submit photographic portraits taken during lockdown. The portraits focus on three themes: Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal, and Acts of Kindness.

A portrait is included from Newport, taken by Ceri A Edwards, and titled ‘Be Safe Daddy x’. It captures a ‘special moment’ between a father and his daughter.

South Wales Argus:

'Be Safe Daddy x' Picture: Ceri A. Edwards/National Portrait Gallery, London

The little girl featured is called Poppy, who struggled with her dad working as a paramedic during the coronavirus pandemic - worrying about him each time he left for work.

The portrait shows her giving her dad a cuddle before he left for a night shift.

This touching moment will be immortalised as part of the National Portrait Gallery's digital exhibition, along with other 99 coronavirus-inspired works.

The project aimed to capture and document the spirit, the mood, the hopes, the fears and the feelings of the nation as it continued to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

You can see all 100 photos in the Hold Still exhibition here.

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The judging panel included: The Duchess of Cambridge; Nicholas Cullinan (Director of the National Portrait Gallery); Lemn Sissay MBE (writer and poet); Ruth May (Chief Nursing Officer for England) and Maryam Wahid (photographer).

Portraits selected were focused on the emotions and experiences - rather than quality or technical expertise - resulting in a unique and highly personal record of this period of history.

A selection of the photographs featured in the digital exhibition will also be shown in towns and cities across the UK later in the year.

International law firm Taylor Wessing is supporting the Hold Still project in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery. They are long-term supporters of the Gallery and have sponsored the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize for the past 12 years.