The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize – tenderness, traditions and a table of hair

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Leona 2 by Ciril Jazbec.

The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize showcases the work of young photographers, amateurs and established professionals in the very best of contemporary photography. From almost 6,000 submissions, four images were shortlisted, with Martina Holmberg’s Mel the winner of this year’s prize

The exhibition is at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 13 November to 8 February 2026

Leona 2 by Ciril Jazbec. Photograph: Ciril Jazbec

Wed 12 Nov 2025 08.00 CET

Mel (from the series On the Outside of Inside), 2024The Stockholm-born and based photographer and writer explores diversity in appearance to expose discrimination while celebrating physical difference. Her portrait of Mel is a collaboration, portraying strength through humanism and careful intention

We Dare to Hug (from the series Call Me by Your Name), 2025Luan Davide Gray’s intimate portrayal of Mark and Giordano is a depiction usually absent from contemporary representations of attachment and relationships. In Gray’s words ‘their skin meets without barriers, telling a quiet story of trust, time, and love that defies convention’

The Stateless Youths of Semporna), 2025In Malaysia countless numbers of ‘invisible’ people without government identity cardsare denied access to basic rights such as healthcare and education. Seeking to understand how statelessness affects children, in 2023 Hamzah volunteered with an NGO providing education to stateless youths in Semporna, East Malaysia. It was here that he met Jaidi.

Boss Morris (from the series Hoydenish), 2024Hollie Fernando’s otherworldly image of Boss Morris, the all-female morris dancing side, is brimming with folkloric symbolism, drawn from the London-born photographer’s own journey into the traditions of the British countryside

Between the Ice and Sky), 2024This striking portrait shows a young Inuit girl, Leona, shortly after taking part in an ancient seal hunting ritual in the Uummannaq Ice fjord in northwest Greenland. As Ciril Jazbec explains, ‘For Leona, this moment was a rare opportunity to witness and participate in a traditional way of life, a way of life that may soon be lost to the warming world.’ Through long-term documentary projects, the Slovenian photographer seeks to raise awareness of communities affected by the climate crisis

‘Perhaps I was a warrior in a previous life’

Molly and Amber (from the series Skate Like a Lass), 2024Taken from Skate Like a Lass, a project to document inclusive grassroots skateboarding communities in the north of England, this portrait shows nine-year-olds Molly and Amber at a girls’ skate night in Blackpool. Klottrup’s portraiture presents these skate parks as spaces of belonging, self-expression and connection

Andrei, man of steel (from the series Buried Treasure), 2024 Guardian photographer Ed Alcock follows his roots back to the mining village of Horden, County Durham, in order to ‘explore the tales of my maternal family … and the reality of a place that has become one of the poorest territories in Europe’. Andrei, a Romanian who recently settled in the village, stands in the mist and bears a Superman T-shirt beneath his paint-splattered overalls

Gertraud Platschek, 2024This portrait of artist Gertraud Platschek was taken in the forest near her home in Bavaria, Germany. Seated on a rock, Platschek is seen in one of her wearable works of sculpture, a hat made from a pole covered in black fabric. The horizontality of its form contrasts with the natural environment, producing a glimmer of the surreal which British photographer Camilla Greenwell often seeks out in her work. The portrait, part documentation, part performance, was taken during a collaboration with Platschek

Ottavia Sotto Casa Mia (Octavia outside my house) (from the series Un Mondo Proprio (A World of One’s Own), 2025This portrait gives powerful expression to Ottavia’s personality, with her leopard-print shirt, red hair, bold makeup and undaunted stare. Zagari has been photographing Ottavia for several years, attracted to her sitter’s intelligence, feminism and political activism. This photo, made in Naples, Italy, intends to confound the city’s norms and expectations, challenging women’s inferior position in its male-dominated urban space and nightlife

Contortionism Ulaanbataar (from the series Mongolia Modern), 2024With their triangulated legs framing the vast Mongolian grasslands behind them, student contortionists Norovbadam, Misheel and Anungoo perform a complex manoeuvre. Contortionism is a national art form in Mongolia, east Asia, with intensive training beginning at a young age. British photographer Tom Parker arranged this shoot as part of a broader series documenting modern Mongolia. Here, he captures an important aspect of their culture within a significant part of the country’s “physical and mental landscape”

Backstage, (from the series DONGPO), 2024In this vivid portrait by British-Korean photographer Chan-yang Kim, two cultures meet within the frame. Dressed in vibrant Korean hanbok, Jung-sook and Soon-hee were preparing to perform a traditional fan dance when the two young dancers behind passed by. The girls’ Union Jack flags and bright blue tutus echo the shades of the tied ribbons and embroidered flowers decorating Jung-sook and Soon-hee’s hanboks, creating a harmonious image of cultural contrasts

Untitled, (from the series 5k from the Frontline), 2024British-Swedish photojournalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind has been documenting the life of the Tsvetkov family since 2018, when they lived in Avdiivka, Ukraine. With Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and the occupation by Russian forces, the family have been displaced. This portrait of Tymofii Tsvetkov is part of a long-term project about everyday life in the region of Donbas during the conflict (produced in collaboration with Alisa Sopova) that focuses on the realities of living through military violence.

‘Nyella is at the heart of North London United, a football team founded by her father for young people with Down’s syndrome.’ The British photographer – whose great-great grandfather discovered the condition – takes portraits of the team’s players at the indoor pitch where they train. His joyful images attest to the team’s motto, ‘awareness is our currency’.

Sarah and Rachel, 2025Pictured here in Pentecostal dress after a Sunday service, Sarah (left) and her cousin Rachel embrace, illuminated by the golden light streaming in through the church window. Rachel’s smart watch adds a touch of modernity to this otherwise timeless image. Rachel invited the British photographer to visit her church, the Celestial Church of Christ, in their local area of Elephant and Castle. The portrait forms part of a wider series documenting the communities of south London and the spaces in which they gather

Donato Telesca (from the series Physique Du Rôle), 2024The image of Italian powerlifter Donato Telesca was taken in the run up to the Paris Paralympic Games in 2024, where Telesca won a bronze medal. Shot from above, the photograph incorporates deliberately imperfect elements in the composition – the metal wheel and the taped arrow. The portrait presents an image of order and strength, confounding and reconfiguring our expectation of disability

Ivana and Fatima, 2024This portrait of Ivana and her daughter Fatima was made two months after an Israeli-guided bomb hit the family’s home in Lebanon. Ivana and her sister suffered severe burns and were left homeless; the family have since been supported by the No More War foundation, established by photographer Giles Duley in 2017. Himself a triple amputee following injuries sustained in Afghanistan, Duley’s work documents the long-term impact of conflict on civilians. Despite incomprehensible suffering, a deep joy can be seen in the tender bond of mother and child

Table of Hair (from the series Las Pelilargas), 2024Irina Werning arranged her sitters’ hair across a table in Octavalo, Ecuador, where Kichwa men keep their hair unshorn as a symbolic link to their ancestors and an extension of the self. The central figure looks out at the viewer, perhaps in resistance to the history of forced haircutting during the Spanish Inquisition. Inspired by Indigenous communities in her homeland, Argentinian photojournalist Werning has been photographing long hair since 2006

he became fascinated by the fleeting interactions and the emotionally enduring connections they produced

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