When Tim Walker strolled through Highbury Fields six years ago, a modest plaque caught his eye. It marked the spot where, on 27 November 1970, the first public gay-rights march in the United Kingdom took place—a protest sparked by the police entrapment of Louis Eakes, a Young Liberals leader. The date struck Walker as uncanny, because it matched his own birthday. That coincidence ignited a curiosity that would later blossom into an expansive photographic project, now on display at the National Portrait Gallery under the title Fairyland: Love and Legends.
The exhibition assembles a cross-generational tableau of the British queer community, ranging from 1970s activists to contemporary artists, medical professionals and everyday champions. Walker’s childhood love of fairy tales—once a source of comfort that turned bitter after schoolyard bullying—provides the conceptual backbone. He frames each portrait as a modern fairyland a space where imagination reclaims identity.
Origins of the exhibition: a 1970 protest and a personal birthday
Highbury Fields’ plaque served as both historical anchor and personal trigger. Walker wondered who stood on that cold November day, what became of their fight, and whether their stories had ever been captured in a museum setting. The answer arrived in a series of meetings with surviving marchers such as Ted Brown, Lisa Power and Andrew Lumsden. Their recollections guided Walker’s decision to interweave archival moments with present-day narratives, creating a continuum that stretches from the early Gay Liberation Front to the vibrant queer scene of today.
Building a visual tapestry: portrait styles and collaboration
Walker approached the project with a collaborative ethos. Each participant was invited to bring an object that held personal resonance—script pages from Russell T Davies, a camera belonging to photographer Sunil Gupta, or a copy of the 1982 Capital Gay newspaper. These artefacts appear in the images, grounding the fantasy in tangible history. The exhibition’s visual language shifts deliberately: some figures are rendered in a Hans Holbein-inspired style, echoing the National Portrait Gallery’s own Renaissance collection, while others are placed against Walker’s signature stark white backdrop.
Historical figures in Holbein homage
Portraits of the original Highbury marchers adopt the compositional rigor of Northern Renaissance portraiture. By positioning activists like Power and Lumsden within this formal frame, Walker elevates their activism to the level of timeless art, suggesting that their bravery belongs alongside the great European masters displayed in the Gallery’s upper rooms.
Contemporary icons on white backdrops
Later-stage portraits feature a diverse roster of modern queer figures—actor Ian McKellen, pop star Troye Sivan, activist Lady Phyll (Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah) and many others—each captured against an immaculate white background. Walker explains that this approach “is the cheapest way,” but it also strips away visual clutter, allowing the subject’s personality and chosen prop to command full attention. The result is a series of intimate, instantly recognizable studies that sit comfortably beside the more historical works.
Confronting the AIDS era and intimate fantasy
One of the exhibition’s most moving sections addresses the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. A photograph of Graham McKerrow, founder of the pioneering Capital Gay newspaper, holds a November 1982 issue bearing the headline “US disease hits London.” Walker describes the image as a reminder of the moment the virus first entered public discourse in Britain. Adjacent to this, nurse Jane Bruton is shown cradling her former patient Tony Whitehead, one of the first individuals saved by combination therapy in 1996. The duo is joined by Professor Jonathan Weber, whose research helped shape that life-saving regimen. Walker calls the reunion “beautiful,” noting the lingering pride and care that still radiate from the participants.
Medical memories and personal reunions
The poignant tableau of Bruton, Whitehead and Weber underscores the exhibition’s dual aim: to honour struggle while celebrating survival. By pairing medical professionals with the patients they once tended, Walker transforms clinical history into a personal love story, reinforcing the narrative that queer history is also a story of resilience and compassion.
Erotic “landscapes” and baroque influence
The final gallery space pushes boundaries further, presenting a series of surreal, erotic images that Walker dubs “sexual landscapes.” Scenes include a giant goldfish bowl emblazoned with buttocks, a rat poised next to an octopus, and models entwined with S&M-themed accessories. The baroque backdrop draws inspiration from Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s The Swing merging 18th-century opulence with contemporary queer desire. Although the National Portrait Gallery asked for these works to be grouped in an 18-plus chamber at the rear, Walker insists they belong to the same narrative thread, illustrating how fantasy and reality coexist in queer expression.
Through Fairyland: Love and Legends Walker offers a sweeping, emotionally charged chronicle that bridges activism, art, medicine and sensuality. The exhibition stands as a vivid reminder that Britain’s queer community has continuously reinvented itself, turning marginalised histories into celebrated legends.
