# Portrait prize winners capture identity, performance and striking moments across the world

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/roll-with-it-this-years-best-portrait-photography-in-pictures/
- Published: 2026-11-04T07:00:27+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:40:11+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2026/nov/04/winston-taylor-photo-portrait-prize-winners-in-pictures
- Topics: Culture

## Key points

- Katie Hitchcock-Smith won first prize for a portrait made in Morocco.
- The winning portraits span Morocco, Dartmoor and Cuba.
- The exhibition opens at the National Portrait Gallery on 5 November.

## Summary

The 2025 Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize celebrates portrait photography that captures people in distinctive settings and moments. Its winning images range from a staged, western-themed portrait made in Morocco to a young fencer photographed at home in Cuba, alongside work exploring identity, reflection and performance.

Katie Hitchcock-Smith won first prize for a portrait of Nour and Mohmed from her series *Tajine Westerns*, made during an artists’ residency near Erfoud after an 11-hour bus journey across the Atlas Mountains. Max Pattenden took second prize with a portrait of ten-year-old Havannah in a Dartmoor village, while James Clifford Kent won third for his image of 16-year-old Neisser Yoel Gálvez Tabares in fencing kit. The exhibition runs at London’s National Portrait Gallery from 5 November to 17 January; other featured photographers include Winston Taylor Commission winner Marcie Docherty and Joan Wakelin bursary winner Ellie Ramsden.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.