Portrait of Britain Vol. 8 Shortlist © Matthew Joseph
Portrait of Britain returns with a shortlist of 200 photographs reflecting a nation caught between change and continuity.
Dartmoor, though beautiful, is an eerie sight. A place rich in folklore, where the pixies and will-o’-the-wisp exist, one where it is possible to be miles away from the next closest person. In this vast, quiet moorland stands a young man. Dressed in a gandoura (a traditional Moroccan garment), trainers and other streetwear, his presence creates a powerful contrast to this rugged, quintessentially British landscape. In Jaiyana Chelikha’s photograph, ‘Jounaid, Go Back To Where?’ there is a convergence of an ancient, elemental landscape of this nation with a portrait of a second-generation immigrant. It makes a clear statement of belonging. This young man’s interaction with the land is just as emotional, just as connected, as a person whose family has been here for countless generations.
Britain in 2025 is a complex place. It feels ever more frenzied and more contested for those that live here. Amid growing division, this year’s Portrait of Britain Vol 8 photobook explores and celebrates the many identities that create this land, showing that it can be a place of harmony, humour, beauty and life. The 200 shortlisted photographs making up the book – which this year is sponsored by WePresent, the arts platform of WeTransfer – will be available to pre-order from mid November. In January, 100 of the images will be awarded as winners and presented in a public exhibition in partnership with JCDecaux.
Portrait of Britain Vol. 8 Shortlist © Leonie Freeman
Portrait of Britain Vol. 8 Shortlist © Jennifer Forward-Hayter
Portrait of Britain Vol. 8 Shortlist © Joe Gelder
‘For me, a photograph doesn’t have to define Britain – that would be impossible – but it should feel like it’s in conversation with it; questioning, complicating or expanding the idea of what Britishness looks like and who gets to be included in it.’
– Rene Matić, Artist and Portrait of Britain Vol. 8 Judge
Elsewhere in the shortlist, a person is dressed in a wintry outfit, their shoulders and head covered in a black tent of fabric with an orange-billed bird’s head atop – its beady eye dazed. The costume features in the traditional ‘hoodening’ wassailing ceremony in East Kent, enacted in January to bless the apple orchards for a bountiful harvest. It is a joyous ritual, one that is part of an ongoing project by Leonie Freeman to capture modern Britain’s relationship to ancient traditions. Further north, a thriving tradition is present in Joe Gelder’s portrait of the robust but straining figure of a natural stone lifter in Glencoe, Scottish Highlands. The use of black-and-white creates a sense of timelessness about this pursuit, of which the lifter Harley, when asked why he participates in the sport says: ‘It’s just primal innit’.
Amongst this year’s judging panel, made up of Sophie Parker, Dennis Morris, Claire Rees, Mick Moore, Alice Zoo and Vivienne Gamble, is Turner Prize 2025 nominee, artist Rene Matić. I asked Matić what it is that they are looking for a photograph to communicate about Britain when considering this year’s selection? “With my work I’m always searching for what these things are – identity, place, belonging – and I was searching for the same thing when looking at all the images. I’m interested in how Britain reveals itself through people’s relationships to it: whether that’s love, frustration, estrangement or pride. For me, a photograph doesn’t have to define Britain – that would be impossible – but it should feel like it’s in conversation with it; questioning, complicating or expanding the idea of what Britishness looks like and who gets to be included in it. I was drawn to images that held contradictions, that felt lived-in and specific, yet spoke to something collective and unresolved about this place we call ‘home’.”
Something that feels universal to many who inhabit Britain is the living room. So much of our lives play out in our homes – perhaps harbouring the truest version of ourselves, the secrets and the love. In Sean Hardy’s giddy family portrait of his three children, there exists two planes of reality. While his daughter and youngest son – who is non-verbal and autistic – rough-and-tumble on the sofa, Hardy’s eldest son is unaware of his physical surroundings, with a virtual reality headset over his eyes, utterly engrossed in this other world. It is an electric, dynamic image of everyday family life in all its usual scruffiness. But there is a poignant undercurrent. On the wall behind them hang three William Morris prints – the designer and activist once said: “The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” It is a line that could easily thread through every image in this Portrait of Britain shortlist.
It can be rare to feel relaxed when we are outside of our homes, and in Britain community spaces have been on a sharp decline for many years. In Matthew Joseph’s image ‘Skate Break’, taken in a Tesco car park, we see a group of skaters: laughing, smoking and using the supermarket trollies as a place of rest. What it captures is the potential for subculture and community to flourish, even if that means making the fluorescent strip-light ceiling of a London car park your shelter. Joseph describes the community as a “sacred place where warmth, acceptance and dedication thrive – a true testament to the power of community”.
For some, their community existed in (quite literal) ecstatic escape amidst hundreds of undulating limbs and pulsing sonic vibrations along the M25 orbital. AboveGround captures a handshake with ‘Dave the Rave’ through an open car window, an ode to Essex’s oldest raver. Debbie Todd captures a young boy, sporting an expression of wisdom beyond his years and a suave slicked hair-do, at the Appleby Horse Fair. The annual gathering of Romany and Traveller communities in Cumbria is a rich and vital opportunity for a section of society that can often be ostracised or wrongly stereotyped to come together.
Battles have become a part of the cultural tapestry of Britain in 2025. Pro-Palestine marches have been regular occurrences, with several protesters represented in the shortlist. An image by Damian Wilk shows a smiling protestor, a baby carried against his chest, holding a placard emblazoned with ‘End The Genocide. Free Palestine’. As Wilk describes, the protests “are one of the most inclusive, thoughtful and peaceful protests in history. The United Kingdom should be proud of the social groups involved in them”.
Another frontline is the fight for trans rights. New legislation has stripped back the ability for trans people to live safely and with dignity in the UK. Taken at a Trans Rights march in April at Parliament Square, London, Zula Rabikowska captures a supporter staring softly, solidly, into the lens. Behind them is Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and the sharp blue sky so particular to spring. It captures the serenity, compassion and resilience of the people that were fighting for themselves and others on a day that showed us the best of Britain.
In a Britain that often feels fragmented, the Portrait of Britain Vol.8 reminds us that identity here is not fixed — it’s felt, forged, and continually reimagined. These images don’t offer simple answers; instead, they hold space for contradiction, joy, resistance, and belonging. In doing so, they capture something vital: the quiet power of everyday lives, and the communities — seen and unseen — that shape the nation.
The Portrait of Britain Vol. 8 Book is sponsored by WePresent, the arts platform of WeTransfer and will be available to pre-order from mid November.