The inaugural edition of Photo London will take place in May 2015. As London’s first international photography fair, it aims to harness the passionate, growing audience for photography in the city and nurture a new generation of collectors. Photo London is produced by the consultancy and curatorial organisation Candlestar, known for their work with Condé Nast and the Prix Pictet photography award and touring exhibition. Photo London’s public programme is supported by the LUMA Foundation.
Photo London has announced a wide-ranging line-up of participating speakers for talks and lectures over the course of the fair. The talks programme, curated by Professor Francis Hogdson, is designed to complement the galleries and exhibitions programme, the live events will range from informal talks aimed at new collectors, to interviews with renowned photographers and emerging talents, discussions with curators from some of the world’s leading museums, and debates on issues surrounding contemporary photography. Book signings will also take place over the course of the fair.
The tenor of the talks programme is set by participating experts in the field, including Colin Ford CBE; curator and writer William Ewing; Quentin Bajac, chief curator of photography at MoMA; Elisabeth Sussman, the Sondra Gilman curator of photography at the Whitney Museum; Martin Barnes, senior curator of photographs at the Victoria and Albert Museum; Tobia Bezzola, director of the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany; and Tim Marlow, director of artistic programmes at the Royal Academy of Arts. As well as topics germane to both private and institutional collectors of photography, discussions explore issues and ideas such as the impact of Instagram and the ‘dissolution’ of photography.
Talks take place at spaces around Somerset House. The informal environment of the Fernandez & Wells café provides the background to intimate conversations with photographers including as Sze Tsung Leong, Nadav Kander and Alida Rodrigues, conversations on collecting, and ‘Desert Island Pics’, presented by Photoworks. The Screening Room at Somerset House houses discussions on curating, and interviews with artists Stephen Gill, Esther Teichmann, Tom Hunter, Idris Khan and Susan Derges. The lecture theatre of the Courtauld Institute is the venue for interviews and debates, including Sebastião Salgado interviewed by Leo Johnsons as well as lectures on artistic practices by LaToya Ruby Frazier and Mitch Epstein. On Saturday the FT Weekend, Photo London’s global media partner, has curated a day of panel discussions and interviews culminating with a lecture on portraiture at the Courtauld by historian Simon Schama.
In addition to the lively programme at Somerset House, London’s photo week extends to satellite events at partner institutions including American Power, Mitch Epstein’s collaboration with composer and cellist Erik Friedlander, at the Victoria & Albert Museum; lectures by Todd Hido and Stephen Shore at the National Portrait Gallery; and Steve McCurry discussing the communities portrayed in his new book In These Hands: A Journey Along the Coffee Trail at King’s College.
Exhibiting publishers Hatje Cantz, Dewis Lewis and Phaidon host afternoon book signings at their booths in the Great Arch Hall of Somerset House, with Jon Tonks, Simon Norfolk, Edmund Clark, Tom Hunter, Martin Parr and Eva Vermandel among the names already confirmed.
Tickets for talks and live events are available to purchase by holders of Photo London tickets only, via the ticketmaster website for £5. http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Photo-London-tickets/artist/2104303
