70 Galleries To Participate In Photo London At Somerset House

Photo London 2015

Following an outstanding response from galleries around the world after the announcement of the inaugural Photo London fair, 69 galleries to date have been carefully selected to participate: 60 in the main gallery section and 9 in the Discovery section for emerging galleries.

The director of Photo London Michael Benson stated, “We have been overwhelmed by the quality, range, and sheer volume, of exhibitors who have applied to be part of our first edition. Our Curatorial Committee have had their work cut out and I would like to thank them for the meticulous attention they have given to each submission. We could have created a much bigger Fair but, in the end, the fabulous architecture of Somerset House wouldn’t let us! As a result Photo London presents a thrilling international roster of galleries who will bring work to London that reflects the breadth and diversity of collectible photography today – from vintage work and contemporary masters to exciting new talents. Throughout London there’s a mounting sense of excitement that Photo London will be the catalyst for a huge shift in attitudes to collecting photography.”

Of the participating galleries, almost 30 are from the UK, 10 from the US, and more than 20 from across mainland Europe, from Zurich to Istanbul. Photo London is also pleased to welcome exhibitors from Bangalore, Sydney, Moscow and Tokyo.

The varied selection of galleries includes specialists in vintage works, internationally-renowned photography galleries, contemporary art galleries that show photographic works by artists, and new galleries possessed of strong creative vision. Between them, these galleries will exhibit photography in all of its forms, ranging from nineteenth-century prints from the dawn of the medium, to contemporary responses to the proliferation of the image in the age of the Internet and social media.

Further details of the main gallery programme will be released at a later date, but strong exhibition themes can already be detected, including a focus on women behind the camera, museum-style monographic surveys, and previously unseen works.

Photo London aims to showcase young and emerging talent from around the world. These new artists may be found in the Discovery section at galleries such as London’s Edel Assanti, Tokyo’s G/P Gallery, the itinerant PUG Gallery from Oslo; or Tiwani Contemporary with its particular focus on the contemporary art of Africa and its diaspora. Many of the galleries in the main section are introducing relative newcomers such as Bettina von Zwehl at Purdy Hicks, London. Photo London’s commitment to emerging talent will be extended by the introduction of a new prize sponsored by the John Kobal Foundation that will see one photographer from the fair selected for a paid two-month residency in New York.

Held in London’s Somerset House – the building in which, allegedly, Sir John Herschel coined the term ‘photography’ in 1839 – Photo London was conceived as a well-structured and inviting fair of manageable dimensions. Participating galleries will show within the existing rooms of Somerset House, each with their own discrete exhibition space. The galleries will be presented in six zones – each showing a mixture of vintage, modern and contemporary work from around the world – with the aim of creating a stimulating environment that will encourage visitors to explore fresh avenues of interest within the world of photography.

On-site, there will also be an extensive public programme supported by the LUMA foundation. The programme will include Beneath the Surface an exhibition of rarely displayed works from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Photographs Collection and an exhibition from the archive of the acclaimed Iranian photographer Kaveh Golestan. As well as this, there will be a major public installation by Rut Blees Luxemburg and a showcase of work by graduates from the Royal College of Art photography programme. In addition there will be an extensive programme of talks curated by Professor Francis Hodgson, as well as screenings, music and social events at Somerset House. The Tate Modern will also host a Book Fair with a photography focus in the Turbine Hall to run alongside the wide-ranging public programme.

PHOTO LONDON PARTICIPATING GALLERIES 2015:

ROSEGALLERY (Los Angeles), Scheublein + Bak (Zurich), School Gallery (Paris), Steven Kasher Gallery (New York)
Taka Ishii Gallery (Tokyo), Tasveer Gallery (Bangalore), The Photographers’ Gallery (London), The Wapping Project (London), Timothy Taylor Gallery (London), Tristan Hoare Gallery (London), Wilkinson Gallery (London), Yossi Milo Gallery (New York), Atlas Gallery (London), Ayyam Gallery (Beirut, Dubai, London), Ben Brown Fine Arts (London), Bernhard Quaritch Ltd (London), Bernheimer (Munich), Camera Work (Berlin), Caroline Smulders (Paris), Christophe Guye Galerie (Zurich), Crane Kalman Gallery (Brighton), Danziger Gallery (New York), Edwynn Houk Gallery (New York), Eleven Fine Art (London), Eric Franck Fine Art (London), Flowers Gallery (London), Galeri Zilberman (Istanbul), Galeria Tagomago (Barcelona, Paris), Galerie Gilles Peyroulet & Cie (Paris), Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire (Paris), Galerie Lumiere des Roses (Paris), Galerie Pavlova (Berlin), Galerie Polaris (Paris), Galerie Thomas Zander (Cologne), GALLERY FIFTY ONE (Antwerp), Gazelli Art House (London), Grimaldi Gavin (London), HackelBury Fine Art (London), HADA Contemporary (London), Howard Greenberg Gallery (New York), Ibid Projects (London, Los Angeles), in camera (Paris), Ingleby Gallery (Edinburgh), James Hyman Gallery (London), Kahmann Gallery (Amsterdam), Kasher|Potamkin (New York), La Galerie Particulière (Paris), Les Douches La Galerie (Paris), Little Black Gallery (London), Lumiere Brothers Gallery (Moscow), Michael Hoppen Gallery (London), Michael Reid Gallery (Sydney), Nailya Alexander Gallery (New York), Peter Fetterman Gallery (Los Angeles), Purdy Hicks Gallery (London), Ravestijn Gallery (Amsterdam), Robert Hershkowitz (UK), Robert Klein Gallery (Boston), Robert Morat (Berlin, Hamburg), Roland Belgrave Vintage Photography (Brighton)

Photo London – Somerset House – 21 to 24 May 2015

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