Image caption Born in Tehran, but living in Switzerland, Anoush Abrar took this photo of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan during a session which lasted just three minutes. Image caption Spencer Murphy's subject is jockey Katie Walsh. Murphy took third prize in last year's competition for his portrait of actor Mark Rylance. Image caption Berlin-born paediatric endocrinologist Dorothee Deiss is shortlisted for her image of twin sisters Image caption War veteran Giles Price's portrait is from a series shot at the 2013 Kumbh Mela Festival in Allahabad, India. previous slide next slide

Four photographers have been shortlisted for this year's Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize.

Anoush Abrar, Dorothee Deiss, Giles Price and Spencer Murphy are up for the £12,000 prize, which rewards the best in contemporary portrait photography.

The images will be featured in an exhibition of work by professionals and amateurs, which opens at the National Portrait Gallery in November.

Judges have selected 60 portraits for the show from 5,410 submissions.

For the second year in a row, judges will also award the John Kobal New Work Award to a photographer under the age of 30 whose work has been selected for the exhibition.

The winning photographer will receive a cash prize of £4,000 and will be commissioned by the gallery to photograph a sitter connected with the UK film industry.

The judging panel includes the director of the National Portrait Gallery, Sandy Nairne, Kate Bush, head of Barbican Art Galleries, and photographer Suki Dhanda.

"It was with excitement and a sense of privilege that I approached the judging for this year's awards - and all the anticipation was duly fulfilled," said fellow judge Tim Eyles of Taylor Wessing.

"Wistfully, we had to leave some much-admired works behind. The shortlisted photographers fully deserve our congratulations - the selection of their portraits for show from the thousands submitted is a great testament to their manifest quality.'

The winners will be announced on 12 November.