London’s cultural calendar is practically splitting at the seams this week with the city's annual Craft Week and a host of other exciting workshops and events across the capital, which invite us to engage will all things art. But first on the agenda is Photo London.

Taking over the expansive grounds of gleaming Somerset House, year after year Photo London presents the best of the past, present and future of photography. Diving deep into the medium and tracing its legacy, Photo London gatherers work old and new to tell refreshingly modern stories.

Relaunched in 2015, and now in its 8th year, Photo London presents 125 exhibitors from 56 cities across the globe. Guided by the overtly British lens of Martin Parr, in the Master of Photography exhibition titled, ‘Martin Parr, Recent Works’, which features works he has photographed over the past 50 years. From signature shots of sunburnt holidaymakers and rain-soaked British royalists to the Chinese community in Liverpool and recent work that documents the establishment, with projects on Oxford University and London’s high society, Parr captures the farreaching essence of the British Isles.


His work, nestled in the basement of Somerset House, sits beside an exciting group show, ‘Writing her own Script. Women Photographers from the Hyman Collection’, where female photographers over the past 100 years are given and much-needed platform. From fleshy, sultry closeups by contemporary photographer Maisie Cousins and Sarah Maple’s 2011 ‘Votes for Women’ diamante vajazzle to Shirley Baker’s black and white documentary photographs of Manchester in the sixties, when exhibited in the same space these powerful images communicate a moving message.




Alongside the major openings, there are plenty of other exhibiting rooms to explore, from London-based Michael Hoppen and Cob Gallery to Japan’s Zen Foto Gallery and Lima’s Caamaño Foto Galería.

Can't make it to London? Fear not. The 4th edition of Photo London Digital will run until May 29th. Launched in 2020 during the pandemic, this virtual festival has evolved into a year-round event, incorporating online panel discussions and workshops for people who can't make the show in person.

Photo London opens its doors at Somerset House from 11th to 14th May. Book your tickets now at photolondon.org...