Photo London 2024 Opens Next Week
With a few days before the doors at Somerset House open for the ninth edition of Photo London, we would love to share some highlights of what you will see at the fair. Bringing together more than 120 exhibitors from around the globe and presenting a dazzling array of images from the dawn of the medium to groundbreaking contemporary experiments, you are in for a treat!
Helen Levitt, New York, 1974. © Film Documents LLC, courtesy ZANDER GALLERY, Cologne
Once again, Photo London will give visitors an exciting showcase for the best of the past, present and future of photography.
Welcome to Photo London, our doors officially open on Wednesday 15 May (Preview Day) until Sunday 19 May 2024. This year we have over 400 photographers from more than 30 countries. Works on display range from the personal to the political; from social documentary to the glamour of fashion, music and travel imagery; and from the everyday poetic through to constructed images that explore photography’s complicated reflection of the human psyche in our post-truth era.
Steven Meisel, Linda Evangelista, for Vogue Italia, Paris, 1990, courtesy Ira Stehmann Fine Art
Exhibitors 2024
One of the highlights this year is a selection of solo presentations by women photographers past and present, including 20th-century greats Helen Levitt, whose rare unseen colour photography is on show, and Lee Miller, in addition to contemporary luminaries such as Lydia Goldblatt, Jacquie Maria Wessels and Siân Davey
Looking to the future, Charlotte Jansen, Discovery curator, a section dedicated photographers and galleries also promises to be a highlight. Introducing positions — a new direction for Photo London, through which participation of unrepresented artists is supported by collectors and patrons. In its inaugural year, positions features five artists who interrogate and explore beauty.
The worldwide scope of the Fair is underlined by a regional focus on Turkey, with eight galleries — DIRIMART, Galeri Nev Ankara, Galeri Nev Istanbul, GALERİST, Martch Art Project, SANATORIUM, Versus Art Project and Vision Art Platform — supported by TurkishBank UK.
Exhibitors from the United States are back to Photo London in force, with 10 galleries from New York alone — including exciting young galleries such as Cierra Britton Gallery, who focus exclusively on work by black women, indigenous and people of colour, or Roya Khadjavi Projects / Nemazee Fine Art, who champion the work of young Iranian artists.
Iconic fashion photography on show includes work by Steven Meisel and Max Vadukul at Ira Stehmann Fine Art, Sarah Moon, exhibited by Persiehl & Heine and Peter Fetterman Gallery, and Patrick Demarchelier at ATLAS Gallery.
Valérie Belin, Etude pour Heroes #27, 2019-2023. Courtesy of the Artist
Public Programme Exhibitions
The exceptional French photographer Valérie Belin, who has done so much to shape the medium, is Photo London Master of Photography 2024. Her solo exhibition, Silent Stories, showcases more than three decades of her work.
The Fair’s celebration of French photography continues into the past with The Magic Art of French Calotype. Paper Negative Photography 1846 – 1860, an exhibition curated by Robert Hershkowitz, who for the first time presents the beauty of these works to an audience in the UK.
Featuring yet another exhibition, See/Change — Art Collection Deutsche Börse @25, which is a celebration of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation 25th anniversary of its collection, curated by Anne-Marie Beckmann and Renée Mussai, showcasing current artistic positions and recent acquisitions centred around the theme of human condition.
Photo London’s Presenting Partner Belmond also returns to the Fair after its 2023 debut with Fotografia Maroma. Their 2024 presentation will evolve the Belmond Legends series, which featured artists including Durimel, Jack Davison, Jeano Edwards, François Halard, Chris Rhodes and Thomas Rousset (amongst others). Curated by Dani Matthews and entitled Shifting Horizons, the 2024 exhibition champions new perspectives in travel photography and features works by Coco Capitán, Letizia Le Fur and Rosie Marks. They are accompanied by photobooks created in partnership with Parisian publishers RVB.
Aisha Seriki, Orí Inú, 2023, Courtesy of the artist and Doyle Wham
Awards
Guiding viewers into the future, the Photo London x Nikon Emerging Photographer Award returns with an exhibition of its 2023 shortlist and an opportunity to view 2024’s artists. Launched in 2015 at the inaugural edition of Photo London, the Emerging Photographer Award is presented in partnership with Nikon. The Award champions new lens-based artists by offering transformative opportunities through Photo London’s global reach and the generous support of Nikon.
The coming generation of photographers can also be glimpsed at the Photo London x Hahnemühle Student Award, which showcases outstanding works by students enrolled in photography degrees at UK universities. Now in its second year, this initiative builds on Photo London’s ongoing commitment to supporting and investing in emerging photographic artists, which is evident in the Fair’s Discovery and the Photo London x Nikon Emerging Photographer of the Year Award.
Sarah Moon, John Galliano for Dior, 2022, © and courtesy Persiehl & Heine
Talks Programme
The 2024 Talks Programme, curated by Thames & Hudson, brings together an eclectic range of dozens of absorbing events, presented by Charlotte Jansen, Nikon, FT Weekend and the Prix Pictet, among others. Speakers include Valérie Belin, Martin Parr, Howard Greenberg on the legacy of Saul Leiter, Joy Gregory on Black Women Photographers in 1980s–90s Britain, David Campany and Lee Shulman of The Anonymous Project and Magnum photographer and photojournalist Peter van Agtmael in conversation with journalist Sean O’Hagan. All talk are free and included on Photo London Tickets. Pre-registration is required.
Commenting on the strength of the Fair’s ninth edition, Photo London’s Founders Michael Benson and Fariba Farshad say:
‘Once again, Photo London presents a compelling showcase of photography in all its brilliantly varied guises — a vibrant overview of the most influential and widely enjoyed medium of our times. For this, we are indebted to the work of our curatorial committee and to our Associate Director, Sophie Parker, for their unflagging commitment to the quality and diversity of the Fair. We have been thrilled to watch their efforts unfold. That feeling has been echoed at the special collector cultivation events we have held in New York, Paris, Stockholm, Istanbul, Zurich and, of course, in London, where the prevailing opinion has been that Photo London is back to pre-pandemic levels. A nice result of this is that we are now looking forward to welcoming many new collectors to the ninth edition of the Fair. We are firmly convinced that Photo London 2024 will be a perfect foundation for the spectacular celebration of photography that will mark our tenth edition next year.’
Photo London Director Kamiar Maleki highlights the important role Partners and collectors are playing in this year’s Fair:
“We are particularly thrilled that each of our Partners has enriched the Fair through their determination to engage with artists in a variety of highly creative ways. Several important collectors have also been willing to back emerging and experimental talents in Discovery and elsewhere. TurkishBank UK’s support for our Turkish galleries; Belmond’s support for contemporary photography and Pictet’s commitment to photography have all played an important part in creating the Fair’s unique DNA. Not only this, but each of them has worked hard to engage their networks and bring an important group of collectors to this year’s Fair. It is my mission to make more contemporary art collectors into lens-based collectors and broaden the scope seen at the fair, therefore don’t be surprised to see some sculptural photography, AI and other art forms. At Photo London, we embrace the breadth and diversity of photography, delving into new realms of creativity and innovation as we celebrate the past, present and future of the medium. Our aspiration is to be a fair that is as thought-provoking as it is beautiful, and that is engaging to all.’