The Centre for British Photography will open its doors in London in late January 2023. The building will be available to visit year-round and will offer exhibitions and events for amateur and professional photographers alike focussed on presenting both an overview of the past and the diversity of British photography today.
This will be the physical home of some of the works of the Hyman Collection of British Photography of the Hyman Foundation, a registered charity. The Collection includes over 3,000 works by more than 100 photographers including Bill Brandt, Bert Hardy, Daniel Meadows, Jo Spence, Karen Knorr, Anna Fox and Heather Agyepong.
James Hyman, the Founding Director, said: “We hope that through this initial work to make a home for British photography we can, in the long run, develop an independent centre that is self-sustaining with a dedicated National Collection and public programme.”
The newly-appointed Deputy Director of the Centre, Tracy Marshall-Grant, explained further. She highlights that inclusivity and diversity have always been key to the Foundation and the Hyman Collection and that the Centre for British Photography will be looking to reflect that through supporting photographers in Britain.
One example is a print sale of the Collection that will go live on the Centre for British Photography website on November 17th and will run until December 19th. Funds raised will be going towards commissions, grants, exhibitions, acquisitions and sales.
Among the opening events are a self-portrait show co-curated by the campaign group Fast Forward: Women in Photography and The English at Home, which features over 150 photos from the Collection of the English domestic interior by photographers like Bill Brandt, Kurt Hutton, Bert Hardy, Martin Parr, Daniel Meadows, Karen Knorr, Anna Fox, and Richard Bilingham.
Additionally, there will be displays featuring Jo Spence and Natasha Caruana as well as two bodies of work commissioned by the Hyman Collection including Wish You Were Here, a recent series from Heather Agyepong.
Featured image credit: Bert Hardy Estate.
Curtesy of: The Centre for British Photography, London.
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