Hrag Vartanian

From Unzipped:

This portrait (of his daughter Paula) was made as an ecological comment on the number of plastic bags given away by shops. Kerstens lit and arranged the bag to echo the headdresses often worn by women in Dutch Old Master paintings.

This work is the second prize winner of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2008, National Portrait Gallery, London.

Amy Goodwin describes it this way:

Modern accoutrements accessorize the portraits; hoodies and plastic bags of today replace the wimples and head wraps of old, and the camera is the new oil paint.

A better image is here. Turns out this is only one in a larger series by the artist that uses unorthodox materials (usually synthetic and often disposable) as head gear.