Photo London 2023: the must-see photography shows

From 11 – 14 May, Photo London 2023 will stage its eighth fair at Somerset House, with a varied mix of 126 leading international galleries from 55 cities, alongside special exhibitions, such as one spotlighting this year’s master of photography, Martin Parr, and another dedicated to contemporary Mexican photography. 

Ahead of the opening, our photography team whittle down the must-sees at Photo London, and around the city. 

Photo London 2023: the highlights

TJ Boulting

Inspired by her obsession with Blobbyland theme park, and formative childhood holidays, Maisie Cousins created Walking Back to Happiness, a nostalgic, unnerving and curious series of AI works showing at TJ Boulting gallery. Also not to be missed is a site-specific installation of the works circling a sculpture presented in a cupboard-like booth at Photo London, a surprising and intimate space to discover. 

The Photographers’ Gallery

Two visit-worthy shows are currently on at The Photographers’ Gallery. First is the boundary-pushing Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2023, in which the award’s four nominees (Frida Orupabo, Arthur Jafa, Bieke Depoorter and Samuel Fosso) explore complex contemporary themes across race, ethics of collaboration, sexuality and history. On show on the floor below, ‘A Hard Man is Good to Find!’, a delectable survey of queer photographs of the male body created in London between the 1930s and early 1990s.

Robert Morat Galerie (Photo London)

For Lena Amuat & Zoë Meyer, photography is an inventory for our visual understanding of the world. Collecting models, artefacts and specimens, the duo isolate the objects away from any historical or scientific fact in their mobile studio. The items become readymades under their seductive yet controlled perspectives. On show with Berlin's Robert Morat Galerie, is a solo booth of works from Amuat and Meyer’s series Artefakte und Modelle.

Homecoming Gallery (Photo London)

Homecoming Gallery will be showing Derrick Ofosu Boateng’s saturated and joyful compositions, Fenna Schilling’s mesmerising painterly collages, Pia Riverola’s nostalgic yet sensual responses, and the latest exciting addition to the gallery’s roster, Stig De Block, whose graphic perspectives document uplighting explorations. One not to be missed in terms of reading the room of contemporary photography. 

Flowers Gallery 

For the renowned Flowers Gallery’s showing at Photo London, works by Edward Burtynsky, Elger Esser, Gabby Laurent, Janelle Lynch, Shen Wei, and Lorenzo Vitturi can be seen. While all dynamic in their own right, some interesting parallels can be drawn between the artists in terms of an awareness of our landscapes and natures, through the past and present. The body too becomes a vessel through which ideas are explored in contrasting ways, also with a connection to past and present.  

Photo London 2023 runs from 11 – 14 May 2023 at Somerset House, London, with a preview day on 10 May. photolondon.org