Photo London returns to Somerset House next week: all you need to know

Photo London 2021 Somerset House listing image
(Image credit: Photo London)

Photo London returns to Somerset House in London's West End on 9-12 September for the first time since 2020’s physical event was cancelled due to the pandemic. 

And running in parallel, the Photo London Digital fair will take place from 9-28 September. 

Photo London is an international fine art fair that features a roster of exhibitors from 14 countries, including a Discovery section for emerging galleries, in a four-day celebration of the photographic medium. This will be its sixth edition. 

The event’s public programme will include special exhibitions by Master of Photography Shirin Neshat, in partnership with Goodman Gallery; Robert Capa in partnership with Messums; plus talks with Nancy Burson, Lee Friedlander, Adam Lowe, Thomas Walther, Lorenzo Vitturi, and more.

Photo London will continue its Emerging Photographer award. The work of Marguerite Bornhauser, who won the award at Photo London Digital in 2020 and is represented by Carlos Carvalho Arte Contemporânea, will be displayed on the Nikon stand.

(Image credit: Photo London/Graham Carlow)

Since September 2020, Photo London Digital has evolved into a year-round event fuelled by the popularity of its academy, which features talks, events, a monthly photography book club and a fortnightly magazine. 

And Photo London will continue its innovative Academy Programme that has provided continuous support for Photo London’s exhibitors since the postponement of the 2020 Fair in March last year. 

“We are thrilled that Photo London will be the first photography fair to take place anywhere in the world for over a year,” said event founders Michael Benson and Fariba Farshad. 

“We are thrilled too to be able to play such a key role in the reopening of Somerset House and the rebuilding of London’s cultural infrastructure.” 

Work from master photographer James Barnor will be on display in the October Gallery at Photo London (Image credit: Photo London/James Barnor)

Leading camera manufacturer Nikon is Photo London’s main sponsor, and will be running a series of online and offline professional photography workshops, from Documentary to Fine Art and Portraiture photography. 

Nikon’s stand will offer the fair’s visitors the opportunity to get hands-on with the brand’s latest cameras and extensive lens range, as well as heritage stock. Nikon will also be showcasing work from last year’s Emerging Photographer of the Year award. 

Alongside the fair, where visitors can browse prints and artworks from 14 physical gallery exhibitors – and more online via Photo London Digital – Photo London also offers a special events programme for the general public. 

A still from ‘Land of Dreams’ by Shirin Neshat (Image credit: Photo London/Shirin Neshat)

In the Master of Photography exhibition, Shirin Neshat will present her work for the first time in full in the UK. ‘Land of Dreams’ will feature all 111 photographs of New Mexico residents and her two-channel film installation. 

‘Robert Capa, Close Enough’ is a touring exhibition dedicated to the legendary Hungarian-American war photographer Robert Capa. It has been organised in collaboration with Messums London, which recently launched its new photography department. 

And guest speakers to appear on the Nikon stand include fine art photographer Harry Skeggs and London-based anaesthetic doctor and photographer Dr Jon Williamson. 

‘Self-portrait and John Steinbeck, Moscow, USSR, August-September, 1947’, by Robert Capa (Image credit: Photo London/Robert Capa)

Buy your Photo London 2021 tickets today

Photo London takes place on 9-12 September 2021 at Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. 

Opening hours are 9 September: 1-9pm; 10-11 September: 11am-7pm; 12 September: 11 am–6.30pm. 

Day tickets cost £29, with student, disabled and youth tickets priced at £19. Guided tour tickets (not including a day ticket) cost £15. A day ticket and guided tour ticket bundle costs £42.  

All tickets include access to the fair plus access to all special exhibitions and installations. Children under 13 and disabled companions go free. 

Click here to see the full Photo London 2021 line-up. 

The virtual Photo London Digital event will run from 9–28 September at photolondon.org 

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Niall Hampton
Editor

Niall is the editor of Digital Camera Magazine, and has been shooting on interchangeable lens cameras for over 20 years, and on various point-and-shoot models for years before that. 


Working alongside professional photographers for many years as a jobbing journalist gave Niall the curiosity to also start working on the other side of the lens. These days his favored shooting subjects include wildlife, travel and street photography, and he also enjoys dabbling with studio still life. 


On the site you will see him writing photographer profiles, asking questions for Q&As and interviews, reporting on the latest and most noteworthy photography competitions, and sharing his knowledge on website building.