Photo London returns to Somerset House for the 8th year, presenting 125 exhibitors from 56 cities from across the globe. Led by the Master of Photography exhibition ‘Martin Parr. Recent Works’, this year’s Fair also includes the group shows ‘Writing her own Script. Women Photographers from the Hyman Collection’ and ‘Fotografía Maroma’, Awards for young practitioners, a pavilion project and the Talks programme curated by Aperture.
Co-Founders of the Fair, Michael Benson & Fariba Farshad, comment on Photo London 2023:
“When we started Candlestar we could not have imagined that exactly twenty years later we would be announcing the eighth edition of Photo London or indeed that the Fair would have become a key component of the international artworld calendar. Yet it has, and our eighth is our strongest edition yet with a dazzling array of photography in all its forms. As ever there’s a multiplicity of themes — from a celebration of British photography (for obvious reasons) to a focus on photography from Iran and Mexico; from the work of the early pioneers and masters of the form, to images made by a brash new wave of artists who are embracing the possibilities of new technology with the same experimental zeal that characterised the work of those early pioneers.
“And more than that, we are thrilled to be working with a strong group of partners who are themselves deeply committed to the creative process. Our new principal partner the Royal Bank of Canada has, for example, both a rich tradition for collecting and for nurturing creative talent. Our presenting partner Belmond has — through ‘Fotografía Maroma’ and their recently announced ‘Legends’ programme — already established an impressive pedigree for supporting outstanding photography. Adding to the long term support of the FT and the awards for emerging talent developed with Nikon and Hahnemühle respectively, and with the brilliant Kamiar Maleki stepping into the role of Director of Photo London, it is clear that we have assembled all of the elements required to take the Fair to the next level and to become the undisputed leader in its field.”
This year’s Master of Photography is the legendary British photographer Martin Parr, who presents an exhibition of new images taken in the UK, continuing a project that he has been working on for the past half century. ‘Martin Parr. Recent Works’ includes images that have not been shown before alongside the installation “Beach Therapy” and a dozen photo deckchairs.
Describing this body of work, Parr states:
“I think of these images as an interpretation of the many mixed emotions I feel towards my homeland. It is almost a love/hate relationship, and I find addressing this is almost a form of therapy for me.”
Photo London presents the best of the past, present and future of photography. Highlights of the 2023 edition include:
- Works from the dawn of the medium through to the latest developments of today — spanning the socio-political to the cinematic, the constructed to the hyper-real;
- This year’s Master of Photography, Martin Parr presents an exhibition of recent work including the installation Beach Therapy;
- ‘Writing her own Script: Woman Photographers from the Hyman Collection’, a group show celebrating many of the pioneering women photographers at work in the UK over the past 100 years;
- ‘Fotografía Maroma’, an exhibition of contemporary Mexican photography co-curated by Fariba Farshad and Patricia Conde and presented by Belmond;
- Prints by recently deceased legends Fan Ho (1931–2016), Susan Hiller (1940–2019), Peter Lindbergh (1944–2019), Chris Killip (1946–2020), Jürgen Schadeberg (1931–2020), and William Klein (1926–2022);
- Works by living luminaries Sonia Boyce, Edward Burtynsky, Thomas Demand, Ori Gersht, Nan Goldin, Sarah Moon, Sebastião Salgado, Alec Soth and Thomas Struth;
- The Discovery section showcasing the freshest photographers and galleries, including works incorporating AI technology;
- The Photo London x Nikon Emerging Photographer Award, with the winner announced Wednesday 10 May at 6.30pm, and a display of last year’s winner Max Miechowski and his fellow shortlisted photographers in the Nikon Gallery;
- Support for young photographers continued with the inaugural Photo London x Hahnemühle Student Award with shortlisted photographers on view and the winner announced on Saturday 13 May;
- Aperture leads the 2023 Talks Programme alongside Nikon and FT Weekend, offering conversations with Lynsey Addario, Heather Agyepong, Alia Ali, Babak Kazemi, Joy Gregory and Martin Parr;
- Photography workshops run by Nikon on dance photography and British fashion;
- The 100th edition of Photo London Magazine with an issue devoted to Iran;
- The pavilion project ‘I MATTER’, an outdoor photographic exhibition presented by thenon-profit organisation CASE Art Fund to raise awareness about children’s human rights;
Full ticket types and prices at: https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/photo-london-2023
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