As the West End continues its distinctive post-Christmas bustle—lively yet hurried—St Martin’s Place’s National Portrait Gallery invites us to confront the quietest and most intimate states of human nature.
Today is the perfect time to explore the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2025 exhibition, often regarded as the “Oscars” of modern portrait photography. Since it’s Friday, the gallery stays open until 21:00, offering a wonderful evening escape from the city’s noise into the calm of art. If you can’t make it today, the exhibition remains open until 8 February 2026.
This year’s selection brings together a broad spectrum—from established professionals to talented amateurs—pushing the boundaries of what a “portrait” can be. Far beyond merely documenting a face, each frame tells a story: sometimes planned and formal, sometimes as spontaneous and vulnerable as a moment caught at a family dinner.
Prize-Winning Gazes: Who Saw What, and How?
The award-winning works at the heart of the exhibition also summarise the aesthetic and ethical priorities of contemporary photography:
First Prize – Martina Holmberg: The Swedish photographer took first place with her portrait Mel (from the series The Outside of the Inside). Holmberg captures the elusive “inner expression” of the human soul in a minimalist yet profound language.
Second Prize – Luan Davide Gray: With We Dare to Hug (from the series Call Me by Your Name), Gray focuses on the power of closeness and tenderness, compelling the viewer to form an emotional bond.
Third Prize – Byron Mohammad Hamzah: Jaidi Playing (from the series Bunga dan Tembok) documents the social reality of stateless youth in Malaysia. The series title “Flower and Wall” represents the stark contrast between their fragility and resilience.
Commission Prize – Hollie Fernando: With Boss Morris (from the series Hoydenish), Fernando reinterprets traditional folk figures and eccentric characters through a contemporary aesthetic.
Why See It?
This exhibition is more than just “beautiful photographs”; it serves as a compass showing where portrait art is heading, judged by visionary figures such as Tim Walker and Sunil Gupta. Most of the works are being shown to the public for the first time, each touching on universal themes of belonging, identity, loss, and joy.
A Note from Apartment No: 26
While London’s streets overflow with post-Christmas sales and crowds, gazing into the eyes of Byron Mohammad Hamzah’s Malaysian youth or feeling the quiet depth in Martina Holmberg’s “Mel” in the dimly lit corridors of the National Portrait Gallery can offer an entirely different perspective in these final days of the year. If you visit in the evening, the gallery’s night-time atmosphere will deepen the intimacy of the portraits even further.
