STEPHEN’S PORTRAIT OF RAYMOND ANTROBUS IS SHORTLISTED FOR TAYLOR WESSING PHOTO PORTRAIT PRIZE
Stephen Iliffe’s portrait of poet Raymond Antrobus has been selected for the second round of the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2026.
“I’m interested in how one visual language – photography – can be used to explore another – sign language,” says Stephen. “And I love how Raymond shows that poetry isn’t restricted to the spoken or written word but can be just as eloquently expressed through visual vernacular.”
Stephen made the portrait for his Wellcome Collection photo essay Sign Language Stories. As a deaf community photographer, he has made over 120 portraits of deaf people from all walks of life.
“Photography was invented in the 1830s, around the same time as the UK deaf community began to emerge. And yet, in nearly 200 years since, deaf people remain almost invisible in the photography canon – museums and galleries, archives and collections, books and journals.”
As one of the UK’s leading poets, Raymond has published four poetry collections and two children’s books. His poems have been added to the GCSE syllabus in the UK. He has earned the Ted Hughes Award, the Somerset Maugham Award, and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award.
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The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize is one of the most prestigious global photography awards, celebrating the very best in contemporary portraiture. Exhibited annually at the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Prize showcases talented professional and amateur photographers from around the world.