Photo London is on this weekend, at Somerset House in London. It opened to the public on Thursday, and the last day is Sunday. It’s the biggest photography event of the year in the UK, and showcases work from photographers all around the world. Galleries from around the world exhibit their finest examples of photography. This year is the tenth anniversary of the event, and as usual sees a vast range of examples of the art.
I couldn’t use my pass this year because of being confined to a wheelchair, but here are a sample of some of the exhibits together with the galleries they are in. Photography is such a creative medium and a fabulous photo depends on so many factors - a sharp eye, quick reflexes to capture a fleeting moment, understanding of composition, and curiosity about the world. The days of photographers developing their photos with toxic chemicals are happily over, and smartphones have made carrying cameras ubiquitous. Greater availability means more opportunity for those who would never have considered photography in the days of tripods and fine focusing of expensive cameras. Of course, many professional photographers still use these painstaking techniques, and the methods by which special effects can be created is ever increasing. Photography, like painting, is an art, and the subjects, techniques, and styles are as myriad.
It’s actually relevant that I’m in a wheelchair because I’ve always thought that photography is one way of seeing the world and understanding how other people live and experiencing stunning visual phenomena, both made by (wo)man and natural, without moving from your home. The power of a photo to convey the lives of others is as great as it ever was. Photography engages all our emotions.
Photo London is to photography what Frieze is to painting.
I hope you enjoy the selection of photos I’ve picked.
Tickets: https://photolondon.org/tickets/
The first photo reminds me of when I was in my early teens and would go for walks in North London. I discovered an oasis of calm called The Hill. At that time, it seemed that very few people knew about it - there were only ever a couple of people there in my visual field when I was there. There was a rolling hill which I remember being made up of soft verdant grass. There was also an old mansion that had been abandoned and was dilapidated, but with signs of its glory remaining. I still don’t know what it was - a private home, a hospital? There was a pond at the entrance and nature had stepped inside the house. So the first photograph here really took me back to those sweet memories. The Hill was my sanctuary of peace from about 1976 to when I left London in 1983 to go to university. My pal Ian told me a few years ago it is still there, but many people go.
