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Teenage Pre-occupation: David Stewart's photographic exploration of youth

London-based photographer David Stewart was nominated 16 times for the annual Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize before he finally scooped the prestigious £12,000 accolade in 2015, a prize that celebrates and promotes the very best in contemporary portrait photography from around the world.

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Via submission. All images by David Stewart

Via submission. All images by David Stewart

The winning portrait, Five Girls, was plucked from his Teenage Pre-occupation series; a beautiful body of work that explores youth in all its wonderful confusion and glory.

Stewart said: “Being surrounded by teenagers (my sons, daughter and their friends) made me aware of some interesting things about them which may be of the time and current culture. The work is a document of teenage preoccupations at this time. The world is changing around us very fast at the moment and it is a good time to photograph it.

"The subjects are insecure, looking for something to follow or not, to fit in or not, weighed down by technology, anti-social networkers, obsessed with what other people are doing. When photographed, all these things become clearer. I am presenting observations from the outside. The teenagers in the pictures think they are just getting on with their normal lives."

Available in a book, Teenage Pre-occupation is published by the independent Browns Editions. You can also watch a video about the series here.

Four teenagers sit on a striped sofa against a wooden panelled wall, each wearing casual clothing and hats in varying shades of blue and green
Overhead view of a teenage girl lying on dark fabric, wearing a light top and tulle skirt, looking up at the camera with a contemplative expression
Teen with curly brown hair lying on a bed using a laptop, with coloured cards pinned to the white wall above
Teenager in red and black striped shirt sitting in driver's seat of a car, hands on steering wheel, looking towards camera
Six teenagers sit on chairs outdoors surrounded by greenery, wearing colourful dresses in David Stewart's portrait Five Girls from his Teenage Pre-occupation series
Two teenagers in dark clothing and beanies stand on a grassy coastal headland holding skateboards, with a winding river and distant landscape behind them
Overhead view of teenagers with various hair colours and styles arranged closely together, looking down at the camera
Three teenage boys holding electric guitars and a bass guitar, standing against a grey wall under studio lighting
Teenager wearing headphones and black clothing sits at an electronic drum kit in a bedroom, surrounded by posters and music equipment on shelves
Five teenage girls sit together on a bed surrounded by stuffed toys, laptops and personal belongings in a bedroom decorated with posters
Six teenagers gathered in an institutional green-walled room, some looking contemplative or away from the camera, from David Stewart's Teenage Pre-occupation series
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