The National Portrait Gallery displayed the winners of this year’s 20th annual Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. Over 5020 submissions were analysed from over 1700 photographers ranging from 59 countries. This year’s focus photographer was Hassan Hajjaj, a British-Morroccan photographer who captured vibrant African culture in his portraits.
Walking around the gallery, you can immediately see the immense amount of culture captured in the photographs, which individually explored different themes. All the pieces displayed captured vast emotion in the subjects, making it obvious as to why they received the prize.
Some pieces that particularly stood out to me personally included portraits by Dev Danghi, Owen Harvey, Alex Frayne, and Phillipa James. This is not to say that the rest of the pieces were bland and unnoticeable, the entire gallery was outstanding and emotive, making this year’s display another success.
All the photographers I listed above captured the culture of people all over the world. Owen Harvey photographed David Fuentes, a young bullfighter whose family legacy surrounds the controversial sport. The young man is photographed sitting at a table in the traditional uniform surrounded by family photos of his ancestors taking part in what Fuentes set to face. The piece really captures the emotion of David Fuentes and tastefully highlights the pressures of the cultural practice.
Contrastingly, Alex Frayne explores the youth culture and how young people in Australia spend their time. He spent some time at a popular jetty in Sydney, photographing the adolescents who swam there. The photo chosen for display depicts 4 young men smiling.
Phillipa James similarly captures youth culture by photographing her daughter and her friends whilst they use their phones to make TikToks and take selfies.
Overall, I would highly recommend visiting the gallery for a taste of culture and insight into people all over the world. The four photographers I named above are just a few of the talented people whose work has been displayed.
