As Photo London turns 10, seven photographers tell us the story behind their portraits
15 May 2025
London’s biggest and best-loved photography fair is turning 10. To mark its anniversary, the curators behind Photo London have united a global array of galleries and publishers – many of which have shown since its first iteration, others for the first time – under the stately neoclassical roof of Somerset House for its most special programme yet (14–18 May 2025).
The jewel in the crown of these celebrations will unfold across the Embankment East and West Galleries – an exhibition meditating on London life in all its various guises, curated by critic and author Francis Hodgson. Bringing together 30 renowned photographers who have forged their careers in the city, the show includes contributions from greats of the medium like David Bailey and James Barnor, fashion favourites Miles Aldridge and Nigel Shafran, and documentary pioneers Hannah Starkey and Mary McCartney, to name a few.
Striking notes of both personal and collective resonance, the exhibition roves freely through decades and across London’s sprawl of neighbourhoods. There’s late-night love on dancefloors and gentle introspection at inner-city mosques; rebellious 1990s east London teens and 1960s Lewisham hospital workers; reflections on the aftermath of Grenfell and epic fantasies enacted on the River Thames. Together, these perspectives reveal London to be a city like no other – a place of unique freedom and struggle, where history and the new constantly collide.
Hannah Starkey
‘I’ve lived in London since 1995, when I moved from a BA in Edinburgh to study postgrad at the Royal College of Art’s Photography department. Since then, it has been a lucky city for me, offering a continuous flow of inspiration. While the images I have on display are of women, in a way it is London that’s my muse. Using Virginia Woolf’s term, I think of myself as a street hunter, forever chasing the narrative in the rhythms of everyday life. My timeline in the city and my consistency in subject matter mean I am constantly looking at the experience of being female at different stages of life – student, young mother, mother of teen daughters. I live in Hackney, London Fields, and have done so for 20 years. It’s a place that people flock to from all parts of the world, where everyone is free to be themselves. I love it here. If ever I have a creative block, I just go for a walk.’
Nick Turpin
‘I shot this series between 2015 and 2017 over three winters in Elephant and Castle. They’re commuters returning from the financial district to places like Tooting, East Dulwich and Clapham. I guess what I loved about them was that it felt like I was seeing these people in their natural state. London is such a huge city – of like eight and a half million people, or whatever it is – and it’s a very anonymous place. People leave work, where you have acquaintance with all your colleagues, and head home to their flatmates or family. I was fascinated by this journey – a sort of no man’s land where you can read, nod off against the window, or look at your phone. You can just be. The windows were often covered in rain and condensation, showing just the presence of a person behind the glass. I realised that if I could find a way of photographing just that – removing the bus itself – I could make something very beautiful and painterly. In street photography, your task is really to find something extraordinary in the everyday.’
