diff --git a/frontend/src/components/gallery/GalleryView.tsx b/frontend/src/components/gallery/GalleryView.tsx
index 205b2239..06757d03 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/gallery/GalleryView.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/gallery/GalleryView.tsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import React, { useState, useMemo, useEffect, useCallback } from 'react';
+import React, { useState, useMemo, useEffect, useCallback, useRef } from 'react';
 import { differenceInDays, parseISO } from 'date-fns';
 import { useQuery } from '@tanstack/react-query';
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next';
@@ -250,6 +250,37 @@ export const GalleryView: React.FC<GalleryViewProps> = ({ slug, event, requiresP
     return () => { timers.forEach(clearTimeout); clearInterval(interval); };
   }, [hiddenUntilReveal, revealArmed, revealAtMs, refetch]);
 
+  // Post-upload refresh (P4-E.01). A guest upload is *queued*: the route
+  // answers 202 and the row lands as `processing_status: 'pending'`, while
+  // the photo list only returns completed rows. A single immediate refetch
+  // therefore comes back with a byte-identical payload (which the browser is
+  // answered with a 304), so the guest saw their upload silently vanish until
+  // they hard-reloaded. Poll for a short while until the queued photos finish
+  // processing instead of refetching — or reloading the page — exactly once.
+  const uploadRefreshTimerRef = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | null>(null);
+  const stopUploadRefresh = () => {
+    if (uploadRefreshTimerRef.current) {
+      clearInterval(uploadRefreshTimerRef.current);
+      uploadRefreshTimerRef.current = null;
+    }
+  };
+  useEffect(() => stopUploadRefresh, []);
+
+  const handleUploadComplete = () => {
+    setShowUploadModal(false);
+    const baseline = data?.photos?.length ?? 0;
+    const deadline = Date.now() + 60_000;
+    stopUploadRefresh();
+    const poll = async () => {
+      const result = await refetch();
+      if ((result.data?.photos?.length ?? 0) > baseline || Date.now() > deadline) {
+        stopUploadRefresh();
+      }
+    };
+    uploadRefreshTimerRef.current = setInterval(poll, 2000);
+    poll();
+  };
+
   // Get individual protection settings from event
   const disableRightClick = data?.event?.disable_right_click === true;
   const enableDevtoolsProtection = data?.event?.enable_devtools_protection === true;
@@ -1356,10 +1387,7 @@ export const GalleryView: React.FC<GalleryViewProps> = ({ slug, event, requiresP
           <UserPhotoUpload
             eventId={data?.event?.id || event?.id}
             categoryId={data?.event?.upload_category_id || event?.upload_category_id}
-            onUploadComplete={() => {
-              setShowUploadModal(false);
-              window.location.reload();
-            }}
+            onUploadComplete={handleUploadComplete}
             onClose={() => setShowUploadModal(false)}
           />
         )}
@@ -1766,11 +1794,7 @@ export const GalleryView: React.FC<GalleryViewProps> = ({ slug, event, requiresP
           <UserPhotoUpload
             eventId={data?.event?.id || event?.id}
             categoryId={data?.event?.upload_category_id || event?.upload_category_id}
-            onUploadComplete={() => {
-              setShowUploadModal(false);
-              // Refetch photos after upload
-              window.location.reload(); // Simple reload for now
-            }}
+            onUploadComplete={handleUploadComplete}
             onClose={() => setShowUploadModal(false)}
           />
         )}
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/gallery/__tests__/galleryUploadRefresh.test.ts b/frontend/src/components/gallery/__tests__/galleryUploadRefresh.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e1bcc85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/gallery/__tests__/galleryUploadRefresh.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/**
+ * A guest upload must show up in the grid on its own.
+ *
+ * Guest uploads are queued: `POST /gallery/:id/upload` answers 202 and the row
+ * lands as `processing_status: 'pending'`, while `GET /gallery/:slug/photos`
+ * only returns completed rows. The old handler refetched exactly once (via a
+ * full `window.location.reload()`), which always raced the background worker —
+ * the payload was still byte-identical, the browser was answered 304, and the
+ * guest's photo silently vanished until they hard-reloaded (QA P4-E.01).
+ *
+ * GalleryView needs its providers, the router and a dozen child components to
+ * render, so this pins the contract at source level (same approach as
+ * facePreviewRendition.test.ts).
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import fs from 'fs';
+import path from 'path';
+
+const source = fs.readFileSync(
+  path.join(__dirname, '..', 'GalleryView.tsx'),
+  'utf8'
+);
+
+describe('post-upload photo refresh', () => {
+  it('never reloads the page to pick up an upload', () => {
+    expect(source).not.toContain('window.location.reload');
+  });
+
+  it('keeps refetching until the queued photos appear', () => {
+    const handler = source.slice(
+      source.indexOf('const handleUploadComplete'),
+      source.indexOf('// Get individual protection settings')
+    );
+
+    expect(handler).toContain('await refetch()');
+    expect(handler).toMatch(/setInterval\(poll/);
+    // Bounded: stop once the new photos land, and stop regardless after the
+    // deadline so a failed background job can't leave a poll running forever.
+    expect(handler).toContain('> baseline');
+    expect(handler).toContain('Date.now() > deadline');
+  });
+
+  it('wires the polling handler into the upload modals that render the grid', () => {
+    const wired = source.match(/onUploadComplete=\{handleUploadComplete\}/g) || [];
+    expect(wired.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
+  });
+
+  it('clears the poll when the gallery unmounts', () => {
+    expect(source).toContain('useEffect(() => stopUploadRefresh, [])');
+  });
+});