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Portrait prize winners capture identity, performance and striking moments across the world
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.
In short
- 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.
Explained simply
The Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize is an annual award for portrait photography. Portraits can show people in everyday settings or use staging, costume and performance to explore how someone presents themselves.
The prize is named for photographer Winston Taylor, and its awards include a commission and a bursary for photographers. The National Portrait Gallery in London displays the selected work, giving visitors a chance to see different approaches to photographing people and identity.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Roll with it! This year’s best portrait photography – in pictures”.