Somerset House
Billed as a ‘new and significant addition to London’s cultural calendar’, Photo London will take place at Somerset House from 21-24 May 2015.
Around 60 galleries from around the world are expected to exhibit at Somerset House where the public will be able to buy work on show.
‘Photo London is a response, in part, to a growing international market for both contemporary and vintage photography and, in part, to a burgeoning appetite for the medium in London,’ said Somerset House in a statement.
‘Recent exhibitions of contemporary and 20th century photography at Somerset House gathered notable audiences for subject matter as varied as high fashion and social documentary.’
More than 100,00 people visited a Somerset House retrospective by fashion photographer Tim Walker, while Cartier-Bresson: A Question of Colour pulled in almost 90,000 visitors.
Organisers say that, while London enjoys a reputation as an important hub of the international art market, ‘no fair exists to nurture the specific and growing interest in photography’.
They add: ‘Photo London will address this lack, both through the fair itself and through an ongoing series of initiatives, aimed at collectors, curators, gallerists and the general public.’
Entry prices have yet to be decided, but Amateur Photographer understands that some shows will be free.
Work on display will include rare images plucked from the photography collection at the V&A museum, alongside emerging talent.
Described as a ‘commercial art fair’, Photo London will address the ‘full modern scope of the medium, from rarities by early pioneers in photography, to masterpieces of contemporary art and… street-style blogs’.
Photo London is due to include work resulting from collaborations with photo agency Magnum, and the Aperture Foundation.
A photography book fair will take place across the River Thames at Tate Modern, to coincide with the event.
Photo London is being organised by Candlestar, a cultural production company that is behind the Prix Pictet photo awards and exhibition.
An interior view of the Somerset House exhibition space
