Photo London celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and will take place at Somerset House, one of the city’s iconic venues. The celebrations will be even more heartfelt as Somerset House will also be celebrating its 25th anniversary, as a symbol of the city and a destination for exceptional artistic events, so the favourable astral conjunction between the two dates is sure to add lustre and spectacle to this eagerly awaited photography exhibition. The novelties of the tenth edition will not be lacking, and one of them will be the presence of the new artistic director, Sophie Parker. A member of Photo London since 2018 and with substantial curatorial experience, the new director has already stated that she intends to imbue the current edition with vitality and interdisciplinarity that will encompass not only photography but also performance, sculpture, and much more. After all, photography around the world is evolving as a more complete art and in the past year, in all the fairs where this medium has been celebrated, not only with works by emerging artists, there has been a contamination between various genres. In short, we are witnessing a tendency to use different media, but also to rework photos to make them true works of art. Photography’s detractors might see this new trend as a way of covering up the poor ideas behind the various works, both in terms of content and technique, but Sophie Parker has no doubts: the dissemination of photography must involve different mediums, creating positive synergies between various technological sectors, including patrons and emerging artists, and also connecting the public and the artists.

At Photo London, everything is now ready! The press preview will take place on 14 May, and from 15 to 18 May, the doors will also be open to the public. The number of galleries from all over the world is considerable, more than 100, some of which have been present at the kermesse since the first edition, opened back in 2015, by Michael Benson and Fariba Farshad.

It remains very important to emphasise how much the tourist inducement of events of this kind, as well as obviously the artistic and sales feedback, is crucial for the host cities. And it is precisely for this purpose that the London Lives award was also inaugurated this year. Directed by Francis Hodgson, this award is dedicated to the city, celebrating in all forms its iconic places and the melting pot that has inspired one of the most interesting, young, and dynamic metropolises on the globe for years.

Returning to the newest and most teeming part of the fair, the exhibitors, we again see the participation of galleries from all over the world exhibiting varied and innovative works. In addition, the participation in the role of sponsor of Turkish Bank UK will see the presence of at least two Turkish galleries.

As in any self-respecting fair, special attention is given to emerging photographers to whom the Discovery Award will be dedicated. In fact, as its director, Charlotte Jansen, claims, it will be possible, given the experimental and innovative scope of the section, to discover new and surprising works. Indeed, although the street photography strand has been particularly popular in recent years, the role of photography for emerging personalities such as Bee Gats, represented in the Discovery section by the Mortal Machine Gallery, acquires a much more intense value and street photography evolves into a passionate and fierce storytelling, which as the photographer says, has helped him to recover from difficult times experienced in his hometown, New Orleans, from an early age. A similar role to that of the Discovery section is played by the Position section, which represents an essential virtual place for “Self” artists, not represented by a gallery, whose presence, as its organiser and patron Maria Sukkar states, allows these artists to take their first steps in an important and selective sector, showcasing their work and their creativity.

The photo-publishing sector, whether self-published, from specialised publishers or fanzines, has become increasingly important in recent years. It is thus not difficult to find fairs specifically dedicated to photo publishing or exhibitions such as Paris Photo or Les Rencontres d’Arles, where even first works are sponsored and awarded prizes. Once again, Photo London will host a Book Market, a kind of crossroads designed to channel the attention of professionals into publications of different types, making the link with illustrated paper strong, even in an era of strong digitisation of images.

As Photo London 2025 prepares to welcome its audience, one of the most striking threads across the fair is the renewed engagement with the wild artists who, through distinctly modern and stylistically diverse approaches, explore the overwhelming force of nature. From Kristoffer Axén’s moody, dreamlike visions at Albumen Gallery to Albert Watson’s dramatic landscapes at Echo Fine Arts, these works testify to photography’s power to render the sublime with fresh urgency. Equally compelling is the presence of French galleries such as Galerie Esther Woerdehoff and Galerie Clémentine de la Ferronnière, whose curatorial precision brings a refined and aesthetically rich vision of contemporary photography. Across the board, this tenth edition distinguishes itself not only through the sheer range of international galleries represented but also through the exceptional quality of the works on view—photographs that are both technically accomplished and boldly interpretive. As the medium continues to evolve, Photo London reaffirms its place as a beacon of innovation, sophistication, and artistic vitality.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Silvia Ionna is an independent Art Director. She writes about photography, art, and books for various online magazines.

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