At the National Portrait Gallery in London, in Autumn 2026, an exhibition project takes shape that marks a turning point in Tim Walker’s work. Fairyland: Love and Legends is not a simple retrospective, but the outcome of a five-year journey in which the photographer reconsiders his fairy-tale imagery through a deeply personal and collective lens. Known for a visual language that draws on fairy tales, theatre and the construction of imaginary worlds, Walker retains his distinctive aesthetic in this exhibition, while shifting its centre of gravity. At the heart of the project is no longer fantasy alone, but a real community: activists, artists, performers and writers connected to British and international queer culture, portrayed through elaborate and symbolic settings that amplify identities, stories and relationships. The exhibition weaves together portrait photography, staging and narrative, building a coherent universe in which each image contributes to a broader story. The figures represented are not chosen for their notoriety, but for their role in redefining spaces of freedom, affection and belonging. Walker uses colour, costume and setting as narrative tools, transforming the portrait into a site of affirmation and shared imagination. Fairyland is also an openly political project, though free of rhetoric. The idea of love evoked in the title is not abstract, but rooted in the lived experiences of those who have had to construct their identities on the margins of dominant representations. The “legends” referenced by the exhibition are not distant myths, but stories lived, passed on and reinvented through images. In this sense, Walker’s work engages with a tradition of portraiture that does not simply fix a face, but seeks to convey an emotional and cultural context.
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