Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize


The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize is the National Portrait Gallery in London's annual photographic portrait prize. It was established in 2003 as the Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize. In the years 2006 and 2007 it was referred to simply as the Photographic Portrait Prize, while from 2008 new sponsors have resulted in the name Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. Taylor Wessing's relationship with the Gallery began in 2005 with their sponsorship of The World's Most Photographed.
The prize is an open competition accepting submissions from amateur and professional photographers from anywhere. From about 6,000 submissions, 60 photographs are selected for exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery between November and February. A shortlist of usually four photographers receives prizes which in 2012 were: £12,000 for first; £3,000 for second; £2,000 for third; and £1,000 for fourth. The competition is judged by a panel chaired by the Director of the National Portrait Gallery. In addition, there is an independently sponsored prize for a specific category, usually young photographers.

Prize winners

Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize 2003

  1. Roben Antoniewicz
  2. Victor Albrow
  3. Alan Powdrill
  4. Nadav Kander
The Deloitte Commission, for photographers 25 or under, was David Yeo.

Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize 2004

  1. Jens Lucking
  2. James Reeve
  3. Angus Fraser
  4. Henrik Knudsen
The Deloitte Commission, for photographers 25 or under, was Paul Plews.

Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize 2005

  1. Shara Henderson
  2. Philipp Ebeling
  3. Ric Bower
  4. Magnus Reed
The Deloitte Commission, for photographers 25 or under, was Karoline Hjorth.

Photographic Portrait Prize 2006

  1. Richard Boll
  2. Anna Bauer
  3. Kiran Master
  4. Kyoko Hamada
The Deloitte Commission, for photographers 25 or under, was Erin Kornfeld.

Photographic Portrait Prize 2007

  1. Jonathan Torgovnik
  2. Julieta Sans
  3. Michelle Sank
  4. David Stewart
The Godfrey Argent Award, for photographers 25 or under, was Ivor Pricket.

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2008

  1. Lottie Davies
  2. Hendrik Kerstens
  3. Catherine Balet
  4. Tom Stoddart
The Godfrey Argent Award, for the best portrait in black and white, was awarded to Vanessa Winship.

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2009

  1. Paul Floyd Blake
  2. Vanessa Winship
  3. Michal Chelbin
  4. Mirjana Vrbaski
The Godfrey Argent Award, for photographers between 18 and 25, and the Elle commission was Ali Lomas.

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2010

  1. David Chancellor
  2. Panayiotis Lamprou
  3. Jeffrey Stockbridge
  4. Abbie Trayler-Smith
The Elle Commission was won by Clare Shilland.

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2011

  1. Jooney Woodward
  2. Jill Wooster
  3. Dona Schwartz
  4. Jasper Clarke
  5. David Knight
The Elle Commission was won by Jasper Clarke.

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2012

  1. Jordi Ruiz Cirera
  2. Jennifer Pattison
  3. Spencer Murphy
  4. Alma Haser
The John Kobal New Work Award, for photographers under 30, was awarded to Matthew Niederhauser.
The judges were Sean O'Hagan, Emma Hardy, Lauren Heinz, Glyn Morgan, Sandy Nairne and Terence Pepper.

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2013

  1. Spencer Murphy
  2. Giles Price
  3. Anoush Abrar
  4. Dorothee Deiss

    Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2014

  5. First prize was awarded to David Titlow for "Konrad Lars Hastings Titlow"
  6. Second prize was awarded to Jessica Fulford-Dobson for "Skate Girl"
  7. Third prize was awarded to Birgit Püve for "Braian and Ryan"
  8. Fourth prize was awarded to Blerim Racaj for "Indecisive Moment"
The John Kobal New Work Award was awarded to Laura Pannack for "Chayla in Shul"

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2015

  1. First prize was awarded to David Stewart for "Five Girls 2014"
  2. Second prize was awarded to Anoush Abrar for "Hector"
  3. Third prize was awarded to Peter Zelewski for "Nyaueth"
  4. Fourth prize was awarded to Ivor Prickett for "Amira and her Children"
The John Kobal New Work Award was awarded to Tereza Cervenová for "Yngvild"

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2016

  1. First prize was awarded to Claudio Rasano for "Katlehong Matsenen 2016" from the series Similar Uniforms: We Refuse to Compare
  2. Second prize was awarded to Joni Sternbach for "16.02.20 #1 Thea+Maxwell" from the series Surfland
  3. Third prize was awarded to Kovi Konowiecki for "Shimi Beitar Illit" and "Tilly and Itty Beitar Illit" from the series Bei Mir Bistu Shein
The John Kobal New Work Award was awarded to Josh Redman for "Frances"

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2017

  1. First prize was awarded to César Dezfuli for a photograph of Amadou Sumaila
  2. Second prize was awarded to Abbie Trayler-Smith for a photograph of a girl fleeing Isis in Mosul, Iraq
  3. Third prize was awarded to Maija Tammi for a photograph of an android
The John Kobal New Work Award was also awarded to Tammi

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

  1. First prize was awarded to Alice Mann for "Drummies". A prize of £15,000.
  2. Second prize was awarded to Enda Bowe for a photograph from the series Clapton Blossom. A prize of £3,000.
  3. Joint Third prize was awarded to Max Barstow for an untitled photograph and to Joey Lawrence for a photograph from the series Tombo's Wound. A prize of £2,000 each.

    Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2019

  4. First prize : Pat Martin for two photographs from his series about his late mother, "Goldie "
  5. Second prize : Enda Bowe for "Neil", a portrait from a series exploring youth culture on either side of the Belfast peace lines
  6. Third prize : Garrod Kirkwood for "The Hubbucks," a photograph of a family on route to Whitley Bay beach