National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery is not as grand as the British Museum or a sprawling as the Tate Modern but still sits comfortably in the top bracket of the capital’s cultural institutions.

The gallery is home to dozens of old paintings of British luminaries – they’re all very worthy and important, no doubt, but the best bits are the more contemporary photographic portraits, which are manna for any aspiring snappers. For example, a current exhibition, An Englishman in New York, features some of the 12,000 Poms living in the Big Apple and blends their everyday activities with the sweeping backdrop.

There’s also the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, which is into its last week but contains some truly striking images.

St Martin’s Place, WC2H 0HE 
Tube: Leicester Square
npg.org.uk