'World's greatest underdog': A man with his turkey is art handlers' favourite in National Photographic Portrait Prize

As they unpacked entries to this year's hotly anticipated National Photographic Portrait Prize, art handlers Jessica Kemister and Jacob Potter were struck by David Cossini's portrait of Urgandan man Godfrey Baguma.

It's been given the official Art Handlers Award, worth $2000, ahead of the overall winner being announced next week.

The artist himself describes his subject as the "world's greatest underdog", but his bold suit and steadfast gaze tell a different story.

Titled Ugandan Ssebabi 2022, the picture was taken in the slums of Kyazanga, Uganda.

Its subject was born with a rare physical disability, abandoned by his mother and shunned by society because of his deformities.

"Through a chance encounter, he reinvented himself as an entertainer in a travelling show," Cossini says in his artist statement.

"Now 57, he has beaten the odds. While most people with his condition die by 40, he has found love, success and bought a house - a testament to human resilience and positivity."

The human spirit is almost always the defining feature of the much-loved portrait prize; it's the one of the only prizes that doesn't require professional training, and has remarkably few parameters.

As such, it is, inescapably, a snapshot of modern Australian life, capturing people of all ages and all walks of life, in a variety of settings.

This image, taken overseas, is a metaphor for human resilience through colour and contrast.

Mr Baguma may have been written off at birth, but Cossini saw that he had triumphed through circumstance and pride.

Writing from Uganda, Cossini said he had told his subject of the portrait's prize position.

"I am currently in Uganda with Godfrey and his family, and they are thrilled to know one of his photos will be exhibited at such a prestigious gallery," he said.

"They are very humble people and are very proud of him. Also, the next door neighbour Milicent, who owns the turkey, has excitedly being telling anyone who will listen that her turkey is now famous in Australia!"

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Ms Kemister and Mr Potter said the image stood out from the others because of its boldness, both in terms of subject matter and colour scheme.

"This is a confident work of art: there is assurance in the composition, in the figures of Godfrey and the turkey and in the joyful palette of colours," they said in a statement.

"Cossini's composition cleverly positions Godfrey against the billowing sheets of coloured fabric in background in tones of pinks and reds, echoing this visual likeness in the red wattle and legs of the turkey with Godfrey's suit.

"A single turquoise string creates a connection between the figures both visually and in reality. The colours, scale and visual contrast in the work really appealed to us."

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