Photo London, Somerset House

Photo London, the capital’s largest photography exhibition, returns to Somerset House for its fifth edition. Photography fans will be spoilt for choice, as almost 100 galleries from 21 countries are taking part. The works on offer will span the entirety of the photographic medium, from the journalistic to the experimental and everything in between.

London galleries taking part this year include Flowers Gallery, which will be exhibiting the dream-like work of Esther Teichmann among others, and TJ Boulting, whose list of exhibiting artists includes Juno Calypso. Calypso’s work explores the lonely rituals of self-care with carefully staged images, in which she take on the part of a forlorn and frustrated woman, waiting for an event that never happens.

US photographer Stephen Shore has won this year’s Master of Photography. Shore’s career got off to a prodigious start when, at age 16, he embarked on a three-year project to capture the star-studded comings and goings of Andy Warhol’s Factory. He went on to blaze a trail for students of the quotidian, taking to the road to record meals eaten in diners, utilitarian interiors of motels rooms, and the giant billboards that line America's endless highways. Shore was among the first to use colour photography and if you love Americana, his images offer endless appeal.


Stephen Shore, 'Los Angeles, California, February 4, 1969' (1969) (c) Stephen Shore. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York

There will be a new body of work by Shore on display alongside his series from 1969 entitled Los Angeles, which will feature 60 small images taken in the course of a single day. You can also hear him discuss his work on 16 May as part of the Photo London Talks Programme. Other speakers include photographer of Britishness, Martin Parr, critic and artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries, Hans Ulrich Obrist and American documentary photographer Susan Meiselas. Meiselas’s work will be included in the Pavillion Commission, which this year celebrates women in photography. In fact, almost half of the galleries taking part in this year’s fair are run by women and 40% of the exhibiting photographers are female – a fantastic figure, given that photography remains a largely male-dominated profession.

As well as established photographers, the fair also champions emerging talent with its Discovery section, which this year includes 23 galleries hailing from as far away as Taiwan and South Africa. There will also be 16 solo presentations including work by eminent Irish street photographer Tom Wood.


Nick Brandt, 'Bus Station with Elephant & Red Bus' (2018) (c) Nick Brandt & Atlas Gallery

If shopping for your perfect print isn’t exciting enough, then why not try your hand at the Art on a Postcard auction. The works, sized 10x15cm, will have a reserve price of £50 and bidding starts 8 May on Paddle8. Participating artists include Steve McCurry, Felicity McCabe and Michael Wolf and the money raised will go to the Hepatitis C Trust. The works remain anonymous until the sale closes 22 May, so it will pay to know your photographers, although there's something to be said for taking a punt.

There is also the opportunity to make your own photographic mark. Artist Gavin Turk has installed a giant bronze egg on the River Terrace, which he hopes will inspire visitors to take to Instagram. Participants are encouraged to take egg-inspired images and upload them onto Turk’s website. Selected entries will be posted to @gavinturkegg and projected on the walls of the Great Arch Hall during the Fair.