The Taylor Wessing exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery featured images that told individual stories from across the world.
In particular, a portrait taken by Laurie Broughton of the beautiful and powerful Nelly, aka ‘Queen Niche’. Over weeks of Laurie attending Palestine solidarity demonstrations in Cardiff, he comes across Nelly. This portrait is part of a series which portrays Welsh women who are human rights and peace activists and it is made in collaboration with Emily Hawkins.
Broughton builds a relationship with those photographed in order to build a stronger connection to the portrait being taken and tell the story of the person being photographed in the best way possible; connecting with the viewers and those who may relate.
The portrait of Nelly Adam is one which evokes emotion in many ways; what she is wearing, the backdrop, her pose and the backstory of what it all means to stand up for Palestine. She can be seen draped in a traditional Palestinian scarf, a keffiyeh, which is a sign of resistance and power, as well as a “free Palestine” pin from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.
Nelly Adam is actively open about her constant support for Palestine specifically highlighting the ongoing ‘genocide’ in Gaza. She described it as ‘another holocaust’ due to the nature of the crimes being committed in the Strip. Her portrait feature in the National Portrait Gallery caused discomfort for zionists across the internet, with the Jewish Charity Campaign against antisemitism condemned the art gallery suggesting she “should be the last person to have a portrait in the gallery”.
Nelly shared her own opinion regarding the portrait, similar to her opinions on the genocide and mistreatment of Palestinians in general, stating; “o become a nation of sanctuary we must rise for those in oppression. If oppression is upon one, oppression is upon all”.
Across Wales, Broughton has described Nelly as someone who is a “motivational public speaker” and someone who is an important voice for the Welsh community, providing support for all misrepresented and mistreated races, commenting on her work as an individual who “lead on race council, Cymru’s Zero Racism Wales,” a strong BLM advocate and a human rights activist to stop Islamophobia and Unison officer.