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A portrait of a burn survivor gazing thoughtfully out of a window has won one of the world’s most prestigious photography prizes.
The National Portrait Gallery has named Martina Holmberg, a Stockholm-based photographer, as winner of the 2025 Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize for her portrait Mel. She wins £15,000.
Holmberg’s portrait features the sitter, Mel, appearing lost in a daydream as cool light caresses her repaired skin.
When Mel was two years old, her mother left her and her sister in the car while she went to make a quick purchase at a convenience store and when the mother returned, the car was on fire. Mel’s sister died while Mel survived with severe burns.
Holmberg’s interest in photography was sparked at a young age by accompanying her father when he would develop his own prints and photos.
The portrait of Mel is part of a larger series called The Outside of the Inside, in which Holmberg documents people with facial and physical differences. The NPG said the photographer paid tribute to the rich diversity of appearances and brought more visibility to the discrimination faced by those with physical differences.
The judges commended Mel for its combination of compassionate approach and technical skill, noting how the lighting and thoughtful pose drew viewers to the sitter’s story.
The £3,000 second prize went to Luan Davide Gray, a London-based fine art photographer, for We Dare to Hug, a black and white portrait of two men in their 60s sharing a tender embrace.
The image, which evokes sculpture through its composition and use of light and shadow, shows one man softly holding the other’s bare chest and gently kissing him on the cheek.
Gray has a degree in visual communication from the University of Brighton and more than 20 years of experience as a hairstylist and creative image consultant.
The NPG said the portrait, which is part of a larger series, Call Me By Your Name, captured a moment of mature intimacy that defied conventional representations of physical closeness.
The £2,000 third prize went to Byron Mohammad Hamzah, an NHS consultant and photographic artist, for his portrait Jaidi Playing. Part of the series Bunga dan Tembok (The Flower and the Wall: The Stateless Youths of Semporna), the portrait depicts a child, Jaidi, whose head is cradled in the hands of another child.
Hamzah has spent the past two years working as a volunteer art and photography teacher with an NGO based in Sabah, East Malaysia, that provides free schooling for stateless and marginalised youth, particularly from the Bajau Laut ethnic group.
Jaidi is one of those children. The NPG said the portrait captured a moment of tranquility within a tumultuous and uncertain existence. The judges were drawn to the way the portrait pictured a moment of youthful connection while inviting questions from the details it excludes.
The £8,000 photographic commission to create a new work for the NPG’s collection was awarded to Hollie Fernando, a London- and Brighton-based photographer and director, for her portrait Boss Morris, from the series Hoydenish.
The portrait explores the shift in gender equality within morris dancing. Boss Morris is a young, all-female morris side based in Stroud. The dancers are adorned in folkloric dress and make up as they huddle together for a group portrait. The judges commended the image for its striking and otherworldly qualities.
The winning portraits will be on display at the NPG as part of the Taylor Wessing photo portrait prize 2025 exhibition, open from 13 November to 8 February 2026. The exhibition also includes a new portrait of the queer activist and advocate Lady Phyll, full name Phyllis Akua Opoku-Gyimah, by last year’s winner of the Taylor Wessing photographic commission, Jesse Navarre Vos.
The 2025 judging panel included the photographer and educator Sunil Gupta, the art historian and curator Katy Hessel, the photographer Tim Walker, and Sabina Jaskot-Gill, a senior curator of photography at the NPG.
