Portrait of Britain Winner
Former City Lit Photography student Stephen Illife won a 2025 Portrait of Britain Award last week, the UK's biggest annual photography exhibition.
His photograph Be deaf, cool and funky, captures Deaf, sign language performance artist Sarah Adedeji. Stephen is Deaf himself, making this a landmark moment: the first time Portrait of Britain has included a Deaf portrait by a Deaf photographer.
Now in its ninth year, Portrait of Britain celebrates the diversity of the people who live in the UK. Selected portraits are of people born and raised in the UK, those who’ve moved here, or those simply visiting. 100 winning images are selected from thousands of submissions every year.
Stephen’s portrait, along with the other winners, are being shown all over the country. Since January 5th, the portraits have appeared on JCDecaux digital advertising screens visible to millions of people; from high streets and shopping malls to train stations and airports.
Two Movements Emerge
The art of photography and Deaf culture have evolved alongside each other.
"Photography was invented in the 1830s, just as the Deaf community began to emerge," said Stephen. "And yet two centuries later, Deaf people are still almost invisible in the art photography canon – galleries, books, journals, collections. My work is all about changing this."
It seems Stephen picked the perfect subject. As well as being a performer, Sarah is also a professionally qualified audiologist – one of only a handful of Deaf people to hold this role. Through both her creative work and her professional career, she continues to shift perceptions of what Deaf success and leadership look like.
"It's awesome to be in Portrait of Britain," she explained. "For me as a Black Deaf woman, I'm part of a minority within a minority. This portrait both encapsulates modern Britain's diversity and contributes to the growing visibility of deaf people."
Stephen’s Photography Journey at City Lit
Recognition at this level takes years of refining the craft. It involves being open to new ideas, new techniques and learning from others. For Stephen, this started with photography classes at City Lit.
“I want to acknowledge the impact of City Lit’s lecturers,” he told us, “In particular the support of City Lit’s Mark Malcomson and Michael D. Harding for being a key part of my journey to get here.”
Since finishing his studies, City Lit has continued to collaborate with Stephen. He curated 'Deaf Mosaic' for City Lit’s annual Deaf Day three times. This brought together portraits of, and those taken by, members of the Deaf community.
Study Photography at City Lit
At City Lit, we have a variety of photography courses on offer from complete beginners introducing technical and essential skills in how to operate a camera, to specialist workshops and subject based courses.
