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Portrait of burns survivor wins Taylor Wessing prize
The Guardian
|November 12, 2025
A portrait of a burns survivor gazing thoughtfully out of a window has won one of the world's most prestigious photography prizes.
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) has named the Stockholm-based photographer Martina Holmberg as the winner of this year's £15,000 Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize.
Holmberg's portrait, titled Mel, features the sitter appearing to be lost in a daydream, as cool light caresses her repaired skin.
When Mel was two, she and her sister were waiting for their mother in the car while she went to make a quick purchase at a convenience store. When she returned, the car was on fire. Mel's sister died, while Mel survived with severe burns.
This story is from the November 12, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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