This year’s Photo London — coming hot on the heels of September 2021’s sixth edition, the world’s first international photography fair in almost two years — brings together exhibitors from across the globe and presents a thrilling range of photography in all its forms, ranging from images from the dawn of photography to new pieces that redefine of the medium. Fair Founders Michael Benson and Fariba Farshad comment:

‘Photo London’s mission has always been to show the best of the past, present and future of photography. This edition is no exception, presenting exhibitors and artists whose work not only delights and surprises, but in many cases also challenges assumptions about what photography can be. Invention is at the core of photography’s DNA and with it the ability to reach beyond its own moment — whether it is the Countess de Castiglione sitting down to make a series of ground-breaking self-portraits in 1856, the experimentations of photographers from the Kharkiv School in Ukraine in the 1970s to develop a personal aesthetics in defiance of the codes of social realism, or indeed the work of this year’s Master of Photography Nick Knight, whose photographic practice encompasses sculpture and painting and for whom the purpose of photography is “to show the world not just who we are, but who we want to be.”’

 

 

Photo London 2022 presents 106 exhibitors from 18 countries worldwide

●  Exhibitor presentations span works from the 1850s through to today

●  The Discovery section includes a special presentation on ‘Photography Crossing Boundaries’ including sculpture, NFTs and The Rainbow Camera by artists Walter and Zoniel

●  Support for Ukraine with galleries presenting works by the Kharkiv School of Photography, contemporary photographers still working in Ukraine and prints by Philip-Lorca diCorcia of his photographs taken in Odessa

●  A China Showcase arising from Photo London’s partnership with the World Photography Organisation / PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai

 

 

●  The Photo London x Nikon Emerging Photographer of the Year will be announced 11 May with a presentation of last year’s shortlisted photographers alongside the winner Heather Agyepong

●  Master of Photography Nick Knight presents ‘Nick Knight: Future’ an exhibition spanning works from 1980s to new pieces made especially for the Fair

●  A homage to Frank Horvat (1928 – 2020) with the twin focus Fashion and Paris at Night

●  Photo London’s Talks Programme taking place at the Fair and online will feature 23 artists, including Anastasia Samoylova, Ron Haviv and Polly Braden

●  An exciting programme of book signings featuring Isaac Julien, Bill Wyman, James

Barnor, Todd Hido, Gered Mankowitz, Anastasia Sampylova and many others

●  The third edition of Photo London Digital will run from 11 to 29 May

 

 

Solo presentations and group shows

 

Vintage and classic photography

The Fair’s ongoing commitment to the presentation of classic and vintage photography is everywhere in evidence. James Hyman Gallery (London) presents rare ‘self-portraits’ dating between the 1850s and the 1890s by one of the greatest figures in the history of photography, the Countess of Castiglione. Hershkowitz (London) and Roland Belgrave (Brighton) continue to exhibit rare and one-off pieces of nineteenth century travel, history and exploration. Curatorial’s (L.A) booth celebrates the 1920s with mammoth Vintage gelatin-silver prints by Emil Otto Hoppé of America’s industrial landscape combined with Paul Outerbridge’s 1920s vintage nudes. Lee Miller Archives (East Sussex) presents ‘Surrealist Eye’, focusing on the Surrealist way of seeing in Lee Miller’s work from as early as Paris in the 1930s through the many chapters of her life and shows these alongside works by her husband Roland Penrose.

At Suite 59 Gallery (Amsterdam) vintage prints on the theme of ‘The Artist and his studio’ are on show, presenting images of intimate observations of world-renowned artists in their habitat including Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, Julian Schnabel, Jean Cocteau, Yan Pei Ming and David Hockney. England & Co’s (London) presentation explores photography’s contribution to the radical art produced by international avant-garde artists in the 1960s and 1970s, encompassing artists’ use of photography as medium and method for documentation, experimentation, and visual statements about politics and feminism with a particular focus on Anne Bean.

 

New developments in photography

The acclaimed Discovery section for emerging galleries offers an opportunity to check the pulse of what’s going on at the frontiers of photography. Returning exhibitors include Euqinom (San Francisco) featuring works by Christine Elfman, Ansley West Rivers and Rodrigo Valenzuela; Hi-Noon (London) showing Yushi Li, Bowei Zhang and Melanie Issaka; Photon from Ljubljana presenting work by Anikó Robitz, Tomo Brejc, Dino Kužnik and Ladislav Postupa — and new exhibitors LS10 from London, showing work by young Iranian photographers including Ebrahim Noroozi, Jassem Ghazbanpour and Jalal Sepehr.

Discovery Curatorial Advisor Tim Clark comments: ‘Many of these tackle critically important subjects and themes, including those related to diasporic experiences, the relationship between the body and architectural space, the effects of climate change or representations of gender, in the process providing many instances of beauty, provocation, comfort, revelation and, of course, sustained exploration into the materiality of print and lens-based media.’

In keeping with its curatorial determination to present future directions in photography, this year’s Fair features a special section entitled Photography Breaking Boundaries that includes sculptural works by Miriam Naeh represented by PLEASE QUEUE HERE (London), Paul Chapellier represented by SEAGER Gallery (London), Adam Jeppesen represented by Black Box Projects (London), Gallery FUMI (London) will exhibit Studio Glithero, Walter and Zoniel’s ‘Rainbow Cam’ and a presentation on photography and NFTs by Initial Labo.