PHOTO LONDON - Smith Greenfield

Photo London returns to Somerset House this May, promising its strongest gallery line up yet. Marking its eighth edition in 2023, the Fair sets out to show the best of the past, present and future of photography, and this year is no exception.

Photo London 2023 will have a wider global reach than ever before, with new exhibitors from China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Finland and Iran. Included in the Publishers’ Section are publishers from France, Germany, China, Poland, the Netherlands and the UK.

Collectors of vintage and modern photography will be pleased to see exhibitors including Camera Work Gallery (Berlin), Catherine Edelman (Chicago), Patricia Conde (Mexico), Grob Gallery (Geneva), Iconic Images (London), James Hyman Gallery (London), Lee Miller Archives (East Sussex), Magnum Gallery (London, Paris) and Messums (London, Tisbury).

And for contemporary collectors, galleries will include Bildhalle (Zürich), Duran Mashaal (Montreal), Flowers Gallery (London and Hong Kong), Galerie–Peter–Sillem (Frankfurt), Olivier Waltman (Paris, Miami), Fisheye (Paris), NIL Gallery (Paris), Ira Stehmann (Munich), Robert Morat Galerie (Berlin) and The Gallery of Everything (London).

2023 will see an increase in galleries coming from Asia Pacific, including first time exhibitors Zen Foto Gallery (Tokyo) and Blue Lotus Gallery (Hong Kong). Blue Lotus will present rare prints by Fan Ho (1931 – 2016), arguably one of the most important street photographers of the 20^th century known especially for the remarkable images he captured of Hong Kong during the 1950s and ’60s.

Several galleries will support photographers from Iran. LS10 gallery (London) is presenting a focus on Iranian contemporary photography and Roya Khadjavi Projects (New York) brings together the works of five Iranian photographers — Tahmineh Monzavi, Ali Tahayor, Dariush Nehdaran, Maryam Palizgir and Mo Jahangir.

There will also be a special exhibition on Mexican photography presented by Maroma, a Belmond Hotel, Riviera Maya and co-curated by Photo London co-founder Fariba Farshad and Mexican gallerist Patricia Conde – exhibiting for the first time. ‘Fotografia Maroma: a living gallery of Mexican photography’ will present works by four prominent Mexican photographers: Patricia Lagarde, Javier Hinojosa, Ilán Rabchinskey and Margot Kalach.

Legendary British photographer Martin Parr has been named Photo London Master of Photography 2023. Parr is the eighth recipient of the award, which is presented every year to a living artist who has made an exceptional contribution to photography. Parr will show a new exhibition of work at this year’s Fair, from a project he has worked on over the past 50 years.

The spotlight on British photography continues with a survey of outstanding works by British women photographers: ‘Writing her own Script. Women Photographers from the Hyman Collection’. Curated by the newly opened Centre for British Photography and taking its name from a large-scale photograph by Susan Hiller, the exhibition charts a course from the 1930s to the present featuring work by, amongst others, Heather Agyepong, Shirley Baker, Dorothy Bohm, Sonia Boyce, Juno Calypso, Helen Chadwick, Susan Hiller, Linda McCartney, Edith Tudor-Hart and Bindi Vora.

Plus the return of the Fair’s Discovery section, presenting works from the frontiers of photography; the PHOTO LONDON X NIKON EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHER AWARD, highlighting works of outstanding young photographers and the Talks Programme, curated by Aperture.

Photo London 2023 takes place at Somerset House on 11-14 May (Preview Day on 10 May). For further information and to book tickets: photolondon.org

Smith Greenfield is an independent insurance broker specialising in insurance for collectors of valuable objects including: art insurance, antiques insurance, memorabilia insurance, vintage car insurance, fine wine insurance and more. To discuss specialist insurance for your collection, please contact our Premier Client Adviser, Imran Moideen, via email imran.moideen@smithgreenfield.co.uk or telephone 020 8603 3730.