Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize Exhibition

The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize returns to the Gallery in St Martin’s Place after three years, exploring both traditional and contemporary approaches to the photographic portrait.

Overview

This is an exciting time for the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize as it follows the reopening of the National Portrait Gallery in June 2023, after the largest transformation of their building since 1896.

Highlighting leading approaches to contemporary photography, the Prize showcases artists - from emerging photographers, to established professionals. This year, 5,020 submissions were received, by 1,785 photographers from 59 different countries. Plus, they have also introduced the Taylor Wessing Photographic Commission, which will result in a new portrait for the Gallery's photographs collection. A final selection of 58 works were chosen by judges Addy Campbell, Nicholas Cullinan, Sabina Jaskot-Gill, Karen McQuaid and Caleb Azumah Nelson, including five prizewinners Alexandre Silberman, Gilleam Trapenberg, Jake Green, Carl Francois van der Linde and Serena Brown.

2023’s In Focus Photographer is Hassan Hajjaj. Living and working between London and Marrakesh, Hajjaj’s vibrant portraits embrace diverse cultural influences – incorporating references to Western pop art and African studio portraiture, and mixing traditional Moroccan fabrics and motifs with contemporary streetwear and maximalist styling. His work resists stereotypes to fashion a unique representation of Hajjaj’s own experience of living between British and North African cultures.