Portrait of Britain Winners 2021

1854 Media and British Journal of Photography are thrilled to announce the winners and shortlist of Portrait of Britain 2021!

Looking back at the events of the last two years, it’s easy to see nothing but struggle for Great Britain. But look closer. Because in the cracks, there is beauty. There is the strength of our communities; the resilience of our health service, and the solidarity of our citizens.

Against the backdrop of a nation still picking up the pieces, this is Portrait of Britain 2021: the UK’s biggest annual photography exhibition in collaboration with JCDecaux. 

100 winning images, each capturing the changing face of our nation in their own unique way, have been selected by a panel of industry-leading judges including Tracy Marshall, director of Bristol Photo Festival; Mariama Attah, curator at Open Eye Gallery and Nicola Shipley, director of GRAIN Projects.

In its entirety, Portrait of Britain 2021 offers a rich and complex variety of work that holds a mirror up to modern society: from quiet, everyday moments to landmark events; dynamic urban faces to eccentric countryside characters, and traditional portraiture to more innovative techniques.

In a world fraught with division, portraiture is, in many ways, the ultimate act of collaboration. Perhaps portraiture cannot solve Britain’s identity crisis, but it can help us rejoice in the diversity of our people — and remind us that, for all our differences, there is sameness amongst us, too.

Portrait of Britain Book Vol.4

Published by Hoxton Mini Press, Portrait of Britain Vol.4 contains the 200 shortlisted images of 2021

2021 Winners & Shortlist