There are few photography awards that capture the human condition quite like this one. The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025, opening at the National Portrait Gallery from 13 November 2025 to 8 February 2026, has announced its shortlist, and this year’s finalists deliver a striking mix of intimacy, identity, and quiet power.
Selected from 5,910 submissions by 2,054 photographers, the four shortlisted names represent a bold cross-section of today’s most compelling portrait work.
- Hollie Fernando for Boss Morris – from the series Hoydenish
- Luan Davide Gray for We Dare to Hug 2 – from Call Me by Your Name
- Byron Mohammad Hamzah for Jaidi Playing – from Bunga dan Tembok (The Flower and The Wall: The Stateless Youths of Semporna)
- Martina Holmberg for Mel – from The Outside of the Inside
The winner, who will take home £15,000, will be revealed on 11 November 2025, with second and third prizes of £3,000 and £2,000 respectively. One shortlisted artist will also receive an £8,000 commission to create a new work for the National Portrait Gallery’s collection, the largest collection of portraits in the world.
Judged by photographer and educator Sunil Gupta, art historian and writer Katy Hessel, the Gallery’s Senior Curator of Photography Sabina Jaskot-Gill, and celebrated image-maker Tim Walker, this year’s panel brings together an exciting blend of curatorial insight and creative vision.
Now in its latest edition, the Taylor Wessing Prize remains a barometer of where photography, and portraiture itself, is heading: exploring how we see each other, how we present ourselves, and how contemporary artists frame identity in all its complexity. Expect everything from formal commissions to spontaneous, deeply personal moments.
Tickets start at £9.50 (£10.50 with donation), with discounts for under-25s, seniors, and Pay What You Can slots on Saturday evenings. Members go free — and can catch a preview on 12 November from 14:00 to 17:00.
If you only visit one photo exhibition this winter, make it this one.
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