Museum of the Home has announced a new series of photography exhibitions dedicated to exploring the power and impact of capturing the everyday. Offering a unique window into different lives, spaces, and stories that shape our understanding of home, they will be hosting various events, and research projects across 2025 to highlight the nuances of domestic life through the medium of photography.
Four exhibitions and displays will be on show. From David Hoffman’s powerful stills capturing East End communities’ resilience, to Kenneth Lam’s reimagining of domestic spaces through still-life photography. The World Food Photography Awards 2025 celebrates the connection between food and home, while the Home Darkroom project explores the role of home darkrooms in LGBTQIA+ creative expression.
From Museum of the Home: Museum of the Home is excited to announce a season dedicated to exploring the power and impact of photography. Photography offers a unique window into everyday lives, spaces, and stories that shape our understanding of home. Through exhibitions, events, and research projects, the Museum aims to delve into how photography captures the nuances of domestic life—with moments of intimacy, change, and continuity.
At the Museum, photography complements their existing collections and brings new perspectives on how we live, where we live, and the emotional landscapes we inhabit. Photography is a versatile medium that transcends time, preserving personal and collective memories while documenting the
evolving meanings of home across different cultures and generations.
Whether you’re an avid photographer or a casual observer, this season encourages you to question how images shape our perceptions and memories of domestic spaces.
Danielle Patten, Director of Creative Programmes and Collections comments, ‘By shining a spotlight on photography, we are opening up new conversations about what home means in the past, present, and future. Join us in this visual journey that captures the heart of home through the lens of a camera.
Endurance & Joy in the East End: David Hoffman Photography Exhibition
Opened in October 2024, Endurance & Joy in the East End showcases the powerful work of David Hoffman. Curated by The Gentle Author, this exhibition presents Hoffman’s striking images of homelessness, racism, and activism from 1971 to 1987. Taken during his time living in a squat in
Fieldgate Mansions, Whitechapel, his intimate and compassionate photographs capture the resilience of East End communities.
The exhibition runs from Tuesday 15 October to Sunday 30 March and coincides with the release of Hoffman’s monograph by Spitalfields Life Books, Endurance & Joy in the East End 1971–1987.
Still Living: Kenneth Lam x Museum of the Home
Renowned photographer Kenneth Lam brings his artistic vision to the Museum’s new permanent gallery Rooms Through Time: 1878-2049. Known for his still-life photography, Lam has created a series of seven exclusive images that reinterpret the Museum’s historical and contemporary domestic spaces, such as a High-rise Flat in 2005 and a British Vietnamese kitchen from 2024. These pieces will be available for purchase as postcards during the Museum’s Late series, Housewarmings and on display from 28th January 2025.
World Food Photography Awards 2025
Museum of the Home will be a host during the World Food Photography Awards 2025, sponsored by Tenderstem® Bimi® Broccolini. With over 25 categories the Awards celebrate food in all its forms. The newly introduced category “Food as Home,” will include Museum of the Home Director Sonia
Solicari as a judge. Photographers worldwide are invited to submit their images that explore the connection between food and home, across a variety of photographic styles. The winning works will be on display at the Mall Galleries for two days in May 2025 before coming to Museum of the Home.
The Home Darkroom and the Freedom of Photographic Production in Britain, 1950s-present
The Centre for Studies of Home, a partnership with Museum of the Home and Queen Mary University of London, is collaborating with the University of Westminster on the PhD project The Home Darkroom and the Freedom of Photographic Production in Britain, 1950s-present, exploring the relationship between home darkrooms and LGBTQI+ people’s pursuit of freedom of expression and visual representation from the 1950s onward. This research will investigate how home darkrooms offered LGBTQI+ individuals a private space for developing photographs. Combining archival research and contemporary collecting, the project will enhance the Museum’s ‘Documenting Homes’ collection and develop new musicological approaches to present these stories.
Museum of the Home: Key exhibition information
Tuesday 28th January – Sunday 29th June 2025
Location: Museum of the Home, 136 Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA
- Endurance & Joy in the East End: David Hoffman Photography Exhibition (Open until 30th March 2025)
- Still Living: Kenneth Lam x Museum of the Home (Open from 28th January 2025)
- World Food Photography Awards 2025 (May 2025)
- The Home Darkroom and the Freedom of Photographic Production in Britain, 1950s-present (Ongoing)
