Tim Walker’s Fairyland Opening Was a Reunion of His Creative World

On October 8, London’s National Portrait Gallery celebrated the opening of Tim Walker’s Fairyland: Love and Legends, the photographer’s landmark new exhibition devoted to the queer community. Six years in the making, the show brings together more than 250 photographs of what Walker calls “the sung and the unsung,” spanning cultural icons, artists, activists, and figures from London’s underground scene.

Walker has long been part of the visual language of W, collaborating frequently with editor in chief Sara Moonves on some of the magazine’s most memorable portfolios. That relationship is represented throughout Fairyland, which includes photographs Walker created for W of Lady Gaga, Troye Sivan, Frank Ocean, Chappell Roan, Tilda Swinton, and many others.

The opening was a reunion for many of Walker’s close friends, collaborators and subjects, including Helena Bonham Carter, Beth Ditto, Ben Whishaw, Emma D’Arcy, Charles Jeffrey, Adwoa Aboah, Siouxsie Sioux, Honey Dijon, Zandra Rhodes, Giles Deacon, Daniel Lee, Alan Carr, Jarvis Cocker, Tish Weinstock, Shon Faye, Molly Goddard, Harry Lambert, and more.

The event also marked the debut of Walker’s new collaboration with Pandora, a 10-piece jewelry collection rooted in the people, memories, and rituals that have shaped his life. Among the designs are a penny inspired by his father’s habit of saying “penny for your thoughts,” a button honoring his Irish grandmother, a tooth recalling childhood visits from the tooth fairy, and a wishbone drawn from Sunday roasts with his family. A red cord charm carrier—Walker’s favorite color—ties the collection together, while the photographer also shot its accompanying campaign.

Like Fairyland itself, the jewelry turns deeply personal memories into something meant to be shared. As Walker tells W, the exhibition ultimately belongs to its audience: “A queer person needs to walk into this exhibition and recognize themselves in it— the nuance, the beauty, the creativity.”

Fairyland opens to the public October 9 and will be on view through February 7, 2027. Here, a look inside the starry night.