A portrait by cinematographer and photographer Adam Docker has been selected for this year’s Portrait of Britain, the UK’s largest annual photography competition produced in partnership with JCDecaux. Running from 12 January to 8 February 2026, the exhibition will see winning images displayed on digital screens across London bus shelters, transport hubs, shopping centres and rail stations throughout the country.
Launched in 2016, Portrait of Britain transforms photographic portraits into public artworks, offering a snapshot of contemporary life in Britain. In November, British Journal of Photography announced the 200 portraits that will be featured in this year’s photobook.
Docker is among the 100 photographers whose work will be not just published in print, but publicly displayed. This marks his second Portrait of Britain award, following his 2021 portrait of the late poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah.
This year, Docker’s winning image is a portrait of Liela Medani, a Sudanese woman who settled in London in the 1990s and was impacted by the outbreak of war in Sudan in 2023. The photograph was taken during a pause in filming the documentary Liela’s Journey, directed by Tom Newman for the humanitarian charity Waging Peace. Captured at Medani’s London home, the single image reflects themes of displacement, resilience, and separation.
