EMMA STONER & ORLANDO GILI / PORTRAIT OF BRITAIN

A huge congratulations to LPA photographers Emma Stoner and Orlando Gili, who have both been shortlisted for this year’s Portrait of Britain Vol. 8!

This year’s edition captures a nation balancing change and continuity — a timely reflection of modern Britain through powerful, personal portraits.

Winners will be announced in January 2026… good luck Emma and Orlando!

Lily Shaila Smith, performs in the inclusive and LGBTQ friendly ‘Everyone Choir’ at Glastonbury in 2024. The choir are on stage at Scissors, a new venue at Glastonbury Festival. Scissors is a femme queer space, envisioned as a “queer wonderland” with vibrant design, powerful performances, and an atmosphere that celebrates queer identity and femme creativity.

Image commissioned by Sam Moyo.

Head Gardener, Penny Hemming, photographed one dewy dawn in the garden that she runs at at Riverford Field Kitchen. This wild and glorious space was described by Riverford’s Veg & Table Magazine as a ‘cornucopia of unusual veg & herbs nestled in a meadow of wildflowers’. The portrait was taken for the inaugural issue of Riverford’s Veg & Table Magazine in July 2024.

Local hairdresser and salon owner Patricia, with her extended family. The portrait was taken in the disused rooftop, above one of her salons in Peckham. The family portrait was request by her youngest child Phoenix. The image is part of an on going personal project documenting the female business owner. Trisha juggles a complicated family life with being a hairdresser, and supportive community figurehead.