London Photography Exhibitions

JUN25

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London Photography Exhibitions

This is a London Photography Exhibitions post from our archives. To see the latest London Photography Exhibitions post, click here.

Two themes in London Photography Exhibitions this year have been early photography and London itself. The former started with the Drawn by Light exhibition at the start of the year at the Science Museum and continued with other London Photography Exhibitions like Salt and Silver at Tate Britain. Of the latter (London photography exhibitions focussing on London) there is Reconstructing London (see below) and Victorian London in Photographs, which straddles the two themes.

This week we have added two more London photography exhibitions to list that fit the theme: Beneath the Surface at Somerset House and London Dust at the Museum of London. Beneath the Surface was commissioned by Photo London and is a collaboration between Somerset House and the Victoria and Albert Museum, featuring some 200 images from the V&A archives. London Dust brings us up-to-date focussing on the changing face of London in recent times. Read on for information on these and some of the other ten best London photography exhibitions on now. Note some London photography exhibitions are closing soon. See below for details.

See our regularly updated London Photography Galleries list. The London Photography Galleries list compliments this post on London Photography Exhibitions, with information on opening times and maps.

Beneath the Surface

Beneath the Surface was commissioned by Photo London 2015 at Somerset House, and was the highlight exhibition of the whole fair. The exhibitions showcases more than 200 works from the Victoria & Albert Museum archives. The works include images from William Strudwick, Victor Prout and Charles Thurston – pioneers of early photography. The exhibition is not limited to the 19th century though; the work of Thurston Hopkins, John Gay and Brassaï is also displayed. The name of the show ‘Beneath the Surface’ is a metaphor reflecting the depth of the V&A collection.

“What’s most impressive about this collection is the sheer range of work on display” Aesthetica

Somerset House is on the Strand, by Waterloo Bridge and a couple of minutes walk from Covent Garden.

Where: Somerset House.
Ends: Monday, 24th August, 2015.
See our regularly updated page on London Photography Galleries to compliment this post on London Photography Exhibitions for information on opening times and maps.
More information: Somerset House.

London Dust

Free admission
London dust is a small exhibition of photographs and films reflecting on recent changes in London. Addressed are the social changes brought about by the 2008 Financial Crisis and the ever evolving face of London through redevelopment.

The Museum of London is a short walk from Barbican tube station.

Where: Museum of London.
Ends: Sunday, 10th January, 2016.
See our regularly updated page on London Photography Galleries to compliment this post on London Photography Exhibitions for information on opening times and maps.
More information: Museum of London.

Christina Broom: Soldiers and Suffragettes

Free admission
Christina Broom is considered the United Kingdom’s first, female, professional press photographer and her work from the early 20th century on show in this exhibition reveals her unique observations of London at that time. the work on show, developed from a private collection of over 300 glass plates includes fantastic Suffragettes processions and events.

This exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands, is the first ever exhibition dedicated to the photography of Christina Broom 70 years after her death.

“The pioneer finally gets the exhibition she deserves” – Independent.

Images include a portrait of King Edward VII with the Royal Family (including future King George V, grandson of Queen Victoria and grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II) at the Duke of Yorks’ School in Chelsea from 1908.

There is a special event next Thursday (25th June): Christina Broom: Close Up, at the Museum of London, Docklands. Tickets can be bought in advance (discount code available).

The Museum of London Docklands is right by West India Quay in the Docklands tube station and only moments from Canary Wharf.

Free admission
Where: Museum of London Docklands.
Ends: Sunday, 1st November, 2015.
See our regularly updated page on London Photography Galleries to compliment this post on London Photography Exhibitions for information on opening times and maps.
More information: Museum of London.

Victorian London in Photographs

Free admission
Victorian London in Photographs presents some of the most striking images, in stunning detail, from the dawn of photography, during Queen Victoria’s reign.

On show is the first known photograph taken in London, the opening of the Blackwall Tunnel, the first tube line and life on London’s streets during the times of Dickens.

There is a special tour of the exhibition, with the curator, next month.

London Metropolitan Archives is in Clerkenwell. Stop by nearby Exmouth Market for a coffee any day or for specialist food market on Thursdays and Fridays.

Free admission
Where: London Metropolitan Archives.
Ends: Thursday, 8th October, 2015.
See our regularly updated page on London Photography Galleries to compliment this post on London Photography Exhibitions for information on opening times and maps.
More information: London Metropolitan Archives.

The View from Here

Closing soon
The View from Here showcase the work of several artists from Africa and her diaspora:

Andrew Esiebo: Nigerian photographer documenting the rapid social, economic and cultural deveploemt in Nigeria
Délio Jasse – Angolan, living in Portugal who experiments with platinum and pallidium printing
Lebohang Kganye – Emerging South African Artist
Namsa Leuba – Swiss/Guinean photographer
Abraham Oghobase – Nigerian photgrapher whose works is often structured around his body and it’s surroundings
Dawit L. Petros – New York-based artist focusing on the relationship between African histories and European modernism.

“[The] exhibition showcases a new generation of conceptual photographers” – British Journal of Photography

Tiwani Contemporary is in Fitzrovia, a few minutes walk from Goodge Street tube station and Tottenham Court Road.

Closing soon
Where: Tiwani Contemporary.
Ends: Saturday, 27th June, 2015.
See our regularly updated page on London Photography Galleries to compliment this post on London Photography Exhibitions for information on opening times and maps.
More information: Tiwani Contemporary.

Ernst Haas: Reconstructing London

Ernst Haas was a photojournalist possibly best known for his colour saturated images of post-war USA . However, it was a capture he made, in 1949, at the beginning of his career, of passengers disembarking from a train, that lead to Robert Capa inviting him to join Magnum Photos.

Ernst Haas was in London 1949-51 and captured the recovery of the great city from the Second World War. Central to the exhibition are shots from Speaker’s Corner, known even today as a showcase for free speech, with a generous helping of eccentricity. There he captures the dynamic of changing London, showing Black workers union and socialist party representatives speaking amongst bowler-hatted gentry.

32 rarely seen, black and white images are on display, demonstrating Ernst Haas’ wit, sensitivity and candour in equal measure with the levity and stoicism of London’s inhabitants. London had a reputation for her ‘pea-soupers’: the green-yellow, thick fog formed by pollution which plagued London in the early 1950s. The black and white capture of cyclists in a busy London street amongst taxis and buses provides a vivid vision of London at this time. The display is part of a wider collection of 94 vintage prints on sale at the gallery as a single set. Contact the Atlas Gallery for sales information.

The Atlas Gallery is on Dorset Street in Marylebone, a few minutes walk from Baker Street tube station. The Nordic Bakery is also close buy, for a chic Scandinavian coffee and cinnamon bun post-viewing.

Where: Atlas Gallery.
Ends: Saturday, 4th July, 2015.
See our regularly updated page on London Photography Galleries to compliment this post on London Photography Exhibitions for information on opening times and maps.
More information: Atlas Gallery.

Ishiuchi Miyako: Frida

Free admission
Frida by Ishiuchi Miyako is a photographic record of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s wardrobe and belongings.

The Michael Hoppen Gallery is just off the King’s Road, in Chelsea.

Free admission
Where: Michael Hoppen Gallery.
Ends: Sunday, 12th July, 2015.
See our regularly updated page on London Photography Galleries to compliment this post on London Photography Exhibitions for information on opening times and maps.
More information: Michael Hoppen Gallery.

Henry Wessel: Incidents

Free admission
Henry Wessel is an arguably under-appreciated American photographer, who counts William Carlos Williams and André Kertész as his influences. The free exhibition at Tate Britain features 27 undated photographs which were recently acquired by the gallery. “Captured from his car, on the street, or in other public places, and taken with minimal interaction with the subject, these commonplace scenes are framed by Wessel as if they were isolated moments from a grander narrative.” – Tate.
If you can’t make it into London to see the prints, you might consider by the collection book.
Free admission
Where: Tate Modern.
See our regularly updated page on London Photography Galleries to compliment this post on London Photography Exhibitions for information on opening times and maps.
More information: Tate Modern.

Revelations: Experiments in Photography

The Science Museum follows on from the Drawn by Light exhibition, which showcased over 150 years of photography from the Royal Photographic Society archive. Revelations while covering a similar period has a scientific focus, exploring the role of photograph in Science and “featuring some of the rarest images from the pioneers of photography”.

“The curators should be commended for making this potentially overwhelming subject into a show that engages on many levels, social, scientific, historic, and visual”. Telegraph

Where: Science Museum.
Ends: Sunday, 13th September, 2015.
See our recently updated page on London Photography Galleries to compliment this post on London Photography Exhibitions for information on opening times and maps.
More information: Science Museum.

Snowdon: A Life View

Free Admission.
On leaving university, then Antony Armstrong-Jones became a fashion photographer and became known for his royal studies, which included portraits of HRH Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh on their 1957 Canada tour. He was made Earl Snowdon on marrying into the Royal Family. Lord Snowdon is best known for his portraits of notable global figures and for bringing an informal approach to royal portraits. The display celebrates a major gift of photographs from Lord Snowdon to the National Portrait Gallery in 2013.

Free admission.
Where: The National Portrait Gallery.
Ends: Sunday, 21st June, 2015.
See our recently updated page on London Photography Galleries to compliment this post on London Photography Exhibitions for information on opening times and maps.
More information: National Portrait Gallery.
That’s it for this week’s London Photography Exhibitions, look out for next week’s list of London Photography Exhibitions!

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