Portrait Open Call
Are you an emerging or early career photographer? Looking for the next opportunity to develop your practice?
The National Library of Wales is inviting proposals for series of 10 photographic portraits that represent the people of Wales today.
This is an exciting opportunity to develop your work with the mentorship of artists Denver Shai and Taiye Omokore, whose work is in the National Collection.
OMOKORE, Taiye, Black Futures ©
Taiye Omokore / The National Library of Wales
SHAI, Denver, Legacy ©
Denver Shai / The National Library of WalesThe Commission
Portraits resulting from close relationships between photographer and subject have recently been celebrated in exhibitions at the Library telling local and national stories. In the Byd Bach Aber exhibition held last year, Bruce Cardwell’s portraits captured the individuality and vitality of Aberystwyth’s people. The current Portrait and Power exhibition showcases photographic portraits by artists seeking to highlight and explore social issues from racism to rare disease, obesity and self-harm, to aging. By portraying people whose stories are often been overlooked in contemporary Wales, these portraits highlight the individuality, resilience and creativity of the subjects, and make an invaluable contribution to a collection that is growing to represent the nation in all its diversity and complexity.
Who do you want to see in the National Collection? How will you tell their story?
We are looking to commission a series of photographic portraits of groups or individuals, along with an accompanying text of 200-300 words, to add to the collective story of people living in Wales today.
Of those received, two applications with be selected by Library staff and the artist-mentors: Denver Shai and Taiye Omokore. The selected candidates will then develop their commission with mentorship and receive a fee of £1250 upon submission in early June.
The commissions will be hosted on CELF and will become part of the National Library’s collection.
We are especially interested in the voices of those developing their photography, or early on in their career, however no professional art background required to apply.
Application process
Please email your proposal to phoebe.murray-hobbs@llyfrgell.cymru and include the following:
- - A proposal for your project concept, including who you would like to photograph and why. This can be a text of no more than 200 words, or few mock images with annotations – whatever you feel will showcase your idea best
- - Examples of previous work or links to relevant sites where this can be viewed, if possible
- - Your name and preferred pronouns, home address, contact details and a brief paragraph about yourself
We especially encourage applications from artists from racialised backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ communities, and others who face barriers to access and visibility in the arts.
Deadline
Please submit your proposal no later than 5pm, 3rd April 2026.
Successful applicants will be contacted within a fortnight of the application deadline to discuss the commission and draw up a schedule. The final work must be completed by the 12th of June 2026.
If you are thinking of submitting a proposal and have further questions, access requirements or requests, please contact phoebe.murray-hobbs@llyfrgell.cymru via email.
About the mentors
Taiye Omokore
Taiye Omokore is a Nigerian-born photographer, filmmaker, and creative director based between Cardiff. His work explores cultural identity, migration, and representation through portraiture and visual storytelling, often centring Black voices and underrepresented communities in Wales and beyond. His photography has been featured by platforms including Vogue Greece, Dazed, BBC, Art UK, among many others. His work was shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards and exhibited at Somerset House, among other exhibitions at Ffotogallery, the National Library of Wales, and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.
His practice also extends into film, including the BFI-supported short Unsent Letter, alongside major visual storytelling projects such as Cymru Unleashed with the Football Association of Wales in collaboration with Afrowales and the Kumbukumbu heritage project with SSAP Wales exploring connections between Wales and Africa. In 2023, he was named Visual Artist of the Year at the Black History Wales Awards and later received endorsement as a Global Talent in visual arts.
Taiye is the founder and Editorial Director of KLAT Magazine, a platform dedicated to spotlighting emerging creatives and building community through storytelling. His debut monograph, My Story in Red, explores identity, heritage, and belonging between Nigeria and Wales. Alongside his practice, he mentors early-career artists and develops work that expands representation within contemporary visual culture.
Denver Shai
Denver Shai is a photographer and visual artist whose practice centres on the human figure. Denver was conferred with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Aberystwyth University, specialising in film photography.
In 2023, Denver was shortlisted for the worldwide Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize for ‘Out of the Dark’, and is a commissioned contributor to Portrait and Power at the National Library of Wales. Her preferred camera is a medium format model that uses film, which she favours especially for nude portraits.
Currently, Denver is developing her next portrait series, focused on the male form.
This commission is made possible by CELF the national contemporary art gallery for Wales.
