Curator's Introduction to the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025

This new exhibition, which comes to Sheffield direct from the National Portrait Gallery, showcases the work of talented yearly career photographers, gifted amateurs and established professionals in the very best of contemporary photography. The competition celebrates a diverse range of images and tells the fascinating stories behind the creation of works, from formal commissioned portraits to more spontaneous and intimate moments capturing friends and family.

In this talk you’ll explore some of the exhibitions recurring themes, hear stories behind the selected photographs and get an insight into the judging process for the Prize.

 
Ruby Rees-Sheridan is Assistant Curator of Photography at the National Portrait Gallery, London, where she works on acquisitions, collection displays and exhibitions, including The Face Magazine: Culture Shift (2025) and the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize. Previously a curator at Four Corners, an east London-based film and photography centre, her past exhibitions have included Daniel Meadows: Shuttles, Steam and Soot (2025), Photography on the Move: The Half Moon Touring Shows 1976-84 (2023) and Photographing Protest: Resistance Through a Feminist Lens (2022).

This talk forms part of the programme of events complementing the exhibition Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025 which is on display at Millennium Gallery from Saturday 21 February to Sunday 10 May.

Image Credit: The Farmhand's Son by William Sheepskin, 2024 © William Sheepskin

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