LONDON.- Spreading from Somerset House’s iconic cobbled courtyard across four floors and three wings of the magnificent riverside venue — and spearheading a celebration of photography that extended far across the city — the 9th edition of Photo London radiated positivity, hailed as an exceptionally dynamic and attractive fair by collectors, exhibitors, press and the photographic community.

A celebration of the history and possibilities of the medium, the UK’s pre-eminent photography event showcased 128 exhibitors presenting works by over 400 photographers from across the globe, complemented by a hugely popular Public Programme featuring exhibitions, talks, tours, awards and book signings.

Photo London’s Founders Michael Benson and Fariba Farshad commented: “This year’s edition of the Fair re-affirmed our global credentials. We were particularly thrilled to witness the re-emergence of US-based galleries (particularly those from New York) and to see a strong representation of galleries from France, Italy and Germany as well as from Turkey — a new territory for us. Furthermore, our year-round international collector outreach meant that we were able to welcome a record number of collectors on preview day. All of which resulted in strong sales, an exciting range of new clients for our exhibitors and many fascinating engagements for their artists. Work has already begun in building on this success as we look forward to our special tenth anniversary edition in 2025.

We’re hugely proud of the richness of the mix Photo London brings each year to Somerset House, which is both a tribute to the shape-shifting nature of photography and a reflection of the melting-pot energy of this great city. We firmly believe that the Fair has an important role to play in developing the photography infrastructure — from building the collector base to supporting young and emerging talent. From this point of view the Photo London x Nikon Emerging Photographer Award and the Photo London x Hahnemühle Student Award are invaluable. This year we have gone one step beyond — introducing ‘positions’ to Discovery. ‘positions’ showcases unrepresented artists whose presence at the Fair is supported by collectors and patrons. For the tenth edition we are determined to present a much expanded ‘positions’ section and are delighted that our long term supporter Maria Sukkar has agreed to work with us to spearhead this development. This is just one of many things that will make Photo London 10, an event that will once again be the UK photography event of the year.”

Highlights of the 9th edition included:

• An exceptionally strong presence of women across the Fair, led by this year’s Master of Photography Valérie Belin, to the trailblazing works by Coco Capitan, Letizia Le Fur and Rosie Marks in ‘Belmond Presents Shifting Horizons’, the feminist focus of the inaugural ‘positions’ — a curated exhibition within Discovery that brings attention to unrepresented photographers — and a dazzling number of solo presentations by women throughout the Fair;

• Among these were Helen Levitt (ZANDER GALERIE), Yildiz Moran (Galeri Nev, Ankara), J.K. Lavin (Alta Vista Arts); Siân Davey (Trolley Books / Michael Hoppen Gallery), Jacquie Maria Wessels (Galerie Baudelaire), and near sell-out booths of Florence di Benedetto (PODBIELSKI CONTEMPORARY) and Johnny Mae Hauser (Homecoming Gallery);

• Further stand-out solo presentations included David Bailey (Camera Eye), Rodney Smith (Staley-Wise Gallery), James D. Kelly (Guerin Projects), Cihan Öncü (Dirimart), Gilbert McCarragher's photographs of the interior of Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage; and 'Being There', a collaboration between Omar Victor Diop and Lee Shulman / The Anonymous Project (Galerie Binome and Magnin-A);

• Under-represented people and places were the focus of works by ten incredible photographers in the exhibition ‘See/Change — Art Collection Deutsche Börse @25’ curated by Anne-Marie Beckmann and Renée Mussai, while a regional focus on Turkey and perspectives of photographers coming from more than thirty countries across five continents underscored the Fair’s internationalism;

• Works from the dawn of photography through to today, with Robert Hershkowitz’s ‘The Magic Art of French Calotype’ celebrating the ground-breaking beauty achieved by the medium’s earliest practitioners, while at the other end of the spectrum new series by Roope Rainisto (Verse Solos) and Sander Coers (Open Doors Gallery) harness the powers of AI to fuse fantasy with memory;

• Cutting-edge photography from around the globe in the first edition of Discovery to be curated by Charlotte Jansen, which brought attention to artists of all ages who have been long overlooked by the art and photography world and has been widely praised as Photo London’s most exciting Discovery to date;

• Alongside the Photo London x Nikon Emerging Photographer Award, the Fair continues its support for young talent with the Hanhnemühle Student Award, won by An Liu, a graduate of the London College of Communication (UAL), for her series Weaving the World;

• A Fair for all budgets with prices ranging from the £100,000 mark — with works such as the monumental installation Amazogramas by Roberto Huarcaya selling for a six figure sum at ROLF ART — through to £100 at the other end of the spectrum, for instance for photographs by a new generation of photographers shown by Palm* Studios;

• The Talks Programme led by Talks Partner Thames & Hudson, with sold-out conversations including ‘FT Weekend Presents — Joy Gregory on Black women Photographers in 1980s – 90s Britain', Martin Parr in conversation with Alona Pardo, ‘Lee Miller — From Attic to Archive’, Saul Leiter discussed by Howard Greenberg and David Campany, Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant;

• Tours from leading UK and international museums and institutions, including Tate, V&A, Serpentine Galleries, Institut Français (London), Fotomuseum Antwerp George Eastman Museum (New York), New Museum (New York), High Museum of Art (Atlanta), Maison Européenee de la Photographie (Paris), Inter Gallery (Beijing), and MAMCO (Geneva), alongside welcoming VIPs from leading members’ clubs such as The Arts Club, Maison Estelle, The Cultivist and Velocity Black, alongside private client groups from Pictet, Citi Private Bank and TurkishBank.

Photo London 2025 will take place at Somerset House from 15 – 18 May 2025 and Preview on Wednesday 14 May 2025.