Exhibitions

Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2026

London, United Kingdom

The prize celebrates contemporary photographic portraiture, from formal commissions to intimate, spontaneous images of friends, family and everyday life.

Photo Boss Morris from the series Hoydenish

Image credit

Boss Morris from the series Hoydenish, April 2024 © Hollie Fernando

The Movement

Contemporary photography

ArtLovers Tip

Pick one portrait and stay with it longer than feels natural. At first, you may notice the face. Then the mood. Then the distance between you and the person in the image. The best portraits don’t simply show someone — they create a moment where looking becomes a form of attention.

Exhibition Highlights - What you'll see

The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize is one of the key annual exhibitions for contemporary portrait photography. The selected images explore both traditional and contemporary approaches to portraiture, often presenting works shown publicly for the first time.

You’re watching:

  • Faces and bodies carrying personal and social stories
  • Portraits that move between intimacy and performance
  • Images of friends, family, strangers, public figures or communities
  • Photography as encounter: photographer, sitter, viewer
  • A snapshot of what portraiture feels like now

The power of the exhibition is its variety. One image may feel quiet and vulnerable; another may be theatrical, political, direct or unsettling. Together, they show portrait photography as a living language.

Worth the trip

Yes if you love photography, people, identity and discovering new artists.

This prize matters because it keeps portraiture deeply connected to the present. In an age of selfies, filters and endless visual self-performance, a strong photographic portrait can still slow us down and make a person feel fully present.

How to experience it

Don’t rush from image to image — treat each portrait as an encounter.

Look beyond the face: hands, clothing, background, posture and distance matter.

Ask what kind of relationship exists between photographer and sitter.

Notice which portraits feel controlled, vulnerable, staged, spontaneous or resistant.

Let yourself choose emotionally, not only technically.

London, United Kingdom

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