London is never short of creative goings-on, but the city's photography scene is a burgeoning source of excitement, with dedicated photography festivals, galleries and even a new photography quarter at the heart of London's Soho. Stay up-to-date with our ongoing guide to the best London photography exhibitions.
London photography exhibitions
‘Flowers / Together pt 2’
Have a Butchers Gallery
Until 17 November
'Flowers / Together pt 2'
A subject of constant inspiration, flowers are returned to by the photographic duo Metz and Racine for an exhibition and book, ‘Flowers / Together pt 2’. Open briefs were given to a cohort of London’s creatives (including Wallpaper*’s own photography director Holly Hay) to see flowers as an anchor point for the most dynamic inventions. Altogether the show and accompanying publication are a testament to the importance of being able to shrug off the constraints of commercial expectations in the creative process. Instead, Metz and Racine celebrate the invigorating chaos that comes from collaboration.
‘Human Stories: The Satirists’
NOW Gallery
Until13 November 2022
Bringing together six rising talents across photography and film, ‘Human Stories: The Satirists’ explores the intersection of visual humour, and interconnected and diverse identities across gender, race and class. Presented by NOW Gallery, alternative worldviews are played with through flair and wit, discarding outdated dialogues. This evocative creativity is a way to ‘traverse cultural modalities of a post-pandemic world,’ curator Kaia Charles explains. The emerging artists include Bubi Canal, Leonard Suryajaya, Nyugen Smith, Thandiwe Muriu, Thy Tran and Stephen Tayo.
Jack Davison - Photographic Etchings
Cob Gallery
Until 12 November 2022
Jack Davison, Untitled (JD), 2022, Photopolymer intaglio, Image size 35x29.5cm Paper Size 76x57cm
Now on show at Cob Gallery, Jack Davison’s ‘Photographic Etchings’ achieves a complex feat. Surreal and sensual compositions are clear and crisp at first look with their dramatic contrast, but as the etchings continue to hold the viewer's gaze they dissolve into a melted chiaroscuro, enveloping us into the second wave of surreality. Tumblr and Flickr’s formative photographic influence is present too, as the platforms on which Davison first explored the medium while photographing the Essex countryside. Combining his interest in the works of Saul Leiter, Shoji Udea, August Sander, and Man Ray, Davison Davison creates his own original strange world that blurs seeing and feeling.
Tyler Mitchell: ‘Chrysalis’
Gagosian, Davies Street
Until 12 November
Tyler Mitchell, Cage, 2022
Idyllic visions of Black beauty, desire, and belonging are lensed by Tyler Mitchell in ‘Chrysalis’, his first London solo show at Gagosian, ahead of the much anticipated ‘The New Black Vanguard’ (to open at the Saatchi Gallery on October 28). Land, water and the sky are woven throughout Mitchell’s utopian visions, as he creates a universe in which the spiritual and the transformative come to the fore. Mitchell explains, ‘Collectively, these moments become figments of an imaginative psychic state of being, one in which radiance, resistance, restraint, comfort, and full human agency exist.’
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JLR is a mainstay of modern motoring luxury, but do car brands need creative figureheads?With Gerry McGovern departing from Jaguar Land Rover, what next for the Indian-owned, British-built house of brands?
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Royal Huisman brings superyacht scale to a new age of sail with the 81M Sky projectRoyal Huisman’s The Sky project is a mission to build the world’s tallest sloop – we explore the technical challenges of creating a sailing superyacht
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Could this 3D-printed dwelling solve Luxembourg’s housing crisis?With Tiny House Lux, ODA Architects showcases a functional, low-cost and sustainable home that serves as an important case study for the potential benefits of 3D-printed construction
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Each mundane object tells a story at Pace’s tribute to the everydayIn a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look
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Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, the Wallpaper* team had its finger on the pulse of architecture, interiors and fashion – while also scooping the latest on the Radiohead reunion and London’s buzziest pizza
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Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s been a week of escapism: daydreams of Ghana sparked by lively local projects, glimpses of Tokyo on nostalgic film rolls, and a charming foray into the heart of Christmas as the festive season kicks off in earnest
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Wes Anderson at the Design Museum celebrates an obsessive attention to detail‘Wes Anderson: The Archives’ pays tribute to the American film director’s career – expect props and puppets aplenty in this comprehensive London retrospective
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Meet Eva Helene Pade, the emerging artist redefining figurative paintingPade’s dreamlike figures in a crowd are currently on show at Thaddaeus Ropac London; she tells us about her need ‘to capture movements especially’
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David Shrigley is quite literally asking for money for old rope (£1 million, to be precise)The Turner Prize-nominated artist has filled a London gallery with ten tonnes of discarded rope, priced at £1 million, slyly questioning the arbitrariness of artistic value
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Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThe rain is falling, the nights are closing in, and it’s still a bit too early to get excited for Christmas, but this week, the Wallpaper* team brought warmth to the gloom with cosy interiors, good books, and a Hebridean dram
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A former leprosarium with a traumatic past makes a haunting backdrop for Jaime Welsh's photographsIn 'Convalescent,' an exhibition at Ginny on Frederick in London, Jaime Welsh is drawn to the shores of Lake Geneva and the troubled history of Villa Karma
