Photo London is delighted to announce the details of its sixth edition, which will feature over 100 exhibitors showing the best of international photography in the spectacular neoclassical architecture of Somerset House. To date, the Fair’s Curatorial Committee has confirmed 94 exhibitors from 22 countries and is carefully considering the last applicants who could further strengthen the Fair’s offer. Michael Benson and Fariba Farshad Founders of Photo London said: ‘We are enormously grateful to our Curatorial Committee for urging us to take time and great care over the curation of this year’s Fair. This has paid dividends. The exhibitor list already has great strength and depth and it gets stronger by the day. We are also delighted to be able to champion the work of so many outstanding women photographers including, of course, our sixth Master of Photography, Shirin Neshat.’

This year, Photo London consolidates its commitment to showing the best historic and vintage photography together with a focus on future directions in photography. This is particularly evident in the development of an exciting group of young galleries, many of whom – such as Black Box Projects, Webber and MMX Gallery— have previously exhibited in the Discoveries section and will now exhibit for the first time in the main section of Photo London.

Roderick van der Lee, Director of Photo London, stated: ‘I am proud to see that this year’s expanded curatorial focus and close dialogue with exhibitors has resulted in such exceptionally strong and considered presentations. Booths exploring either the depth of a single theme, the boundaries of photographic process and material, or the scope of a single artist or time-frame are complimented by an increased institutional presence at the fair in the form of exhibitions and a professional curators symposium. All in all, I think the coming of age of photography is beautifully reflected in this year’s edition of Photo London.’

ExhibitorsThe exhibitors' selection reflects Photo London’s strong curatorial focus and the Fair’s ultimate mission to promote excellence in photography.

Under the chairmanship of Philippe Garner, the Fair’s Curatorial Committee has played a crucial part in guiding conversations with exhibitors. This open dialogue with exhibitors has resulted in a series of strong, themed booths, including Bastian (London) gallery’s presentation of Polaroid works from legendary artists Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly and cinematographer Wim Wenders; and Prahlad Bubbar’s (London) of architecture photographs by Indian artist Shubha Taparia and Italian photographer Gianni Berengo Gardin.

Several exhibitors feature artists who will also be presented in major London exhibitions this spring. They include Zanele Muholi at Autograph (London) who will feature in a major exhibition at Tate. Also, Karen Knorr at Sundaram Tagore Gallery (Singapore, NYC, Hong Kong) and Karlheinz Weinberger at Galerie Esther Woerdehoff (Paris) are among the group of photographers taking part in Barbican’s monumental Masculinities exhibition.

This year there is again a significant emphasis on solo presentations in both the Discovery section and the main section. In the main section, these include Miles Aldridge at Christophe Guye Galerie (Zurich); Todd Hido at Reflex Amsterdam; Delphine Diallo at Fisheye Gallery (Paris); Guido Guidi at Large Glass (London); Ralph Ziman at The Rendon Gallery (L.A.); Hsu Ching-Yuan at galerie_frédéric moisan (Paris) and Margaret Courtney-Clarke at SMAC Gallery (Cape Town; Johannesburg; Stellenbosch). In the Discovery section, solo presentations include Alastair Whitton at Black Box Publishing (Cape Town) and Sebastian Cramer at GUDBERG NERGER (Hamburg).

Photo London 2020 welcomes back many regular exhibitors to the main section, including Flowers Gallery (London, celebrating their 50th anniversary), Michael Hoppen Gallery (London), Galerie Johannes Faber (Vienna), Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Persons Projects (Berlin), Peter Fetterman Gallery (Santa Monica), Akio Nagasawa Gallery (Tokyo) and Robert Hershkowitz Ltd. (U.K.).

In addition, the Fair welcomes a strong selection of new and international exhibitors including Autograph, FLATLAND GALLERY (Amsterdam), Joerg Maass Kunsthandel (Berlin), Miyako Yoshinaga (New York), Nicholas Metivier (Toronto), Prahlad Bubbar, Richard Saltoun Gallery (London), Vision Neil Folberg Gallery (Jerusalem) and Gabriel Wickbold Gallery (São Paulo).

In the Discovery section, returning exhibitors such as EQUINOM Gallery (San Francisco), A.I. (London), UP Gallery (Hsinchu, Taiwan) and Sid Motion Gallery (London) are joined by a number of exciting new young initiatives showcasing the next generation of artists who are working to push the boundaries of photography still further, including Szena Gallery (Moscow) showing Igor Samolet; Vanessa Vainio (London) showing the sculptural work of Josefina Nelimarkka; Versus Art Project (Istanbul); Galeria Aura (São Paulo) bringing Julia Milward, Paula Scamparini and Renato Custodio; and Galerie Zielinsky (Barcelona) showing works by João Farkas, Romy Pocztaruk and Leonardo Finotti.

As a new addition to the Discovery section, Photo London has created an informal space to meet and network within the fair. This year, the space will host the inaugural event of Photoworks’ (Brighton) 25th-anniversary programme – a special exhibition celebrating Photoworks Annual magazine and interrogating the institution’s archive.

With exhibitors from 22 countries - Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom and the U.S. - Photo London retains its global perspective.

Public ProgrammeFull details of the Public Programme will be announced in late March together with details of the Talks Programme. Highlights include:

Master of Photography - Photo London is delighted to present the 2020 Master of Photography Award to the Iranian artist Shirin Neshat (b. 1957, Qazvin, Iran). The award is given annually to a leading contemporary photographer who is the subject of a special exhibition at the fair. Neshat's exhibition will feature the photographic series ‘The Home of My Eyes’ (2015), shown in the UK for the first time, the film ‘Roja’ (2015) and a site-specific photo installation, comprised of a collection of her unseen mood books, studies and finished photographs. Moreover, in a first for Photo London the Master of Photography exhibition will be extended beyond the fair days until the 21st of June.

‘Stand Up, Sit Down: Voices of Women in Photography’ - A special exhibition organised on behalf of the HUNDRED+ HEROINES Foundation celebrating exceptional image-making from women artists from around the world. It will include the work of an outstanding group of women artists including Alix-Marie, Elina Brotherus, Ellen Carey, VALIE EXPORT, Yushi Li, Susan Meiselas, Marcia Michael, Tracey Moffat, ORLAN, Josephine Pryde, Newsha Tavakolian, and Gillian Wearing.

Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard: Multigraphs Installation - With Kate MacGarry Gallery, Photo London presents an interactive installation by Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard featuring portraits from their ongoing Multigraphs series. These images are made using a Victorian technique that allows the simultaneous capture of five views of a subject. Their interactive installation will allow visitors to experiment with the optical illusion first-hand.

Rankin: Eyescape - Fascinated by eyes throughout his career, Rankin’s Eyescape series has seen him photograph in extreme close-up and intimate detail the irises of models and celebrities, including the eyes of Heidi Klum, Seal, and supermodel Kate Moss for the auction house Christie’s in 2012. For two days during the Fair (13 and 14 May) Rankin will install a temporary studio and invite visitors to experience a Rankin photoshoot to create a photograph of their own iris. These works map your eye to produce unique and profoundly individual portraits. Every sitter will receive a 1080x1080 px image of their Rankin Eyescape for free - supplied ready to be uploaded to social media. Slots are booked in advance with a limited number of drop-in places available throughout the day.

Pavilion Installations - Photo London’s annual pavilion installations have included work by Wolfgang Tillmans’, William Klein, Daido Moriyama, Susan Meiselas and Mary McCartney. The first confirmed commission for 2020 features works from Simon Procter’s Karl Largerfeld series.

SAVE THE 20X24 - 20x24 Studio Berlin is a charity initiative dedicated to rescuing large-format Polaroid photography created with the 20x24 camera. Extremely bulky, the 20x24 camera was developed by Edwin Land in 1947 to create a new type of camera that could link the mass market and fine art photography. Many artists including Andy Warhol and Nobuyoshi Araki appreciated this format and were celebrated for their 20x24 Polaroids. However, only six cameras were produced before regulations outlawed the type of film they employed. Of these cameras, only two still exist and function today. One will be installed at Photo London and several artists and photographers, both emerging and established, will create a unique Polaroid artwork in front of visitors to raise awareness of the dying medium.

Ian Parry Awards - To mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Ian Parry Awards (whose previous recipients have included Ivor Prickett, Liz Hingley, Leonie Hampton and Jonas Bendikesn), Photo London presents a special exhibition of the work of the 2019 laureates Nanna Heitmann and Jedrzej Nowicki.