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From photos exploring the lives of the Bengali-community in Brick Lane to Harry Potter-themed displays, here’s our rundown of the best photography exhibitions in London for the rest of 2022.
Samuel Hopkins - Staff Writer
When it comes to art exhibitions and museums in London Town, we’re more than spoiled for choice. In fact, we’d go as far to say that our dear city has some of the best museums in the world.
But we’d also argue that we’re not doing too badly on the photography exhibitions front either. From portraits capturing the career of the legendary football Harry Kane, to photos capturing some of the rarest animals on the entire planet, here’s our rundown of 12 of the best photography exhibitions in London to explore for the remainder of 2022:
Rounding off this list of the best photography exhibitions in London for the remainder of 2022 is another one that takes place at The Photographers’ Gallery. Designed to question the very function and meaning of photography today, it focuses on the playful aspects of visual culture and features the work of 30 esteemed international artists.
Running until September 25, you’ll be able to view the works of Ai Wei Wei, legendary American artist Ed Ruscha; Taiwanese visual artist John Yuyi, feminist artist Cindy Sherman and many, many more.
You’ll find the exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London, W1F 7LW. Nearest station is Oxford Circus. Runs until September 25. From £25.
Images can often speak much louder than words, capturing moments to be frozen in time for centuries and, in the case of ‘Seeing Auschwitz’, providing unwavering photographic evidence of crimes committed during the Holocaust. Coming to South Kensington in October, this striking exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the event through a collection of over 100 photographs, drawings and testimonies – each one crucially shedding light on the people and scenes that occurred inside the fences of Auschwitz.
What at first glance may look like a group of friends smiling for the camera actually has much more chilling implications when you consider the uniform they are wearing and what would have been happening out of shot. The exhibition encourages us to look beyond the four edges of the photograph and through the veil of seemingly ordinary faces to confront the reality of what we are seeing. You can grab your tickets for it here.
You’ll find the exhibition at 79-85 Old Brompton Road, London, SW7 3LD. Closest station is South Kensington. Runs from October. Price from £10.
Our penultimate addition to this roundup of the best photography exhibitions in London is designed to ‘contemplate the complex experiences of Afrodiasporic lives and Europe’s colonial past‘.
Exploring Angolan-Portuguese artist Mónica de Miranda’s work, you’ll be able to view ‘The Island’, which draws on African liberation movements, migratory experiences, and identity formations through a black feminist lens.
You’ll find the exhibition at Autograph, Rivington Place, London, EC2A 3BA. Nearest station is Old Street. Runs until October 22. Free.
Kicking off this list of the best photo exhibitions in London to explore for the remainder of 2022 is ‘Known and Strange: Photographs from the Collection’ at the esteemed V&A Museum in South Kensington. A completely free exhibition, it’s designed to showcase the best in contemporary art photography, highlighting photography’s power to ‘transform the familiar into the unfamiliar, and the ordinary into the extraordinary‘.
The display showcases over 50 recent contemporary acquisitions for the V&A’s permanent collection, and photos on display include ‘Lucy: Embroidery on Gelatin Silver Print’ by Maurizio Anzeri and ‘American Elm: Eastern Parkway’ by Mitch Epstein.
You’ll find the exhibition at the V&A, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL. Closest station is South Kensington. Runs until November 27. Free.
Keeping with the location, the next photography exhibition on this roundup – which runs until November – is designed to showcase the dramatic photographs of Maurice Broomfield, who captured some of the most spectacular photographs of industry within the 20th century.
His work spans the emergence of post-war industrialism in the 195os, to its slow decline in the early 1980s, capturing workers and factories in an era of mass change and transition.
You’ll find the exhibition at the V&A, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL. Closest station is South Kensington. Runs until November 27. Free.
Exposure: Lives at Sea is a photography exhibition at Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum exploring what life is really like for those who work at sea today. Through a series of photographs taken by those actually working in the maritime industry, the exhibition shines a light on this often forgotten but integral work.
From the isolated wilderness of Antarctica to the kaleidoscopic coral reefs off Mexico – this London photography exhibition will bring different points of view from all around the world, so it’s definitely not one to miss!
You’ll find the exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, Romney Road, London, SE10 9NF. Closest stations are Maze Hill and Greenwich. Runs until TBC. Free.
Located in the aptly-named Photographers’ Gallery, this new exhibition – which runs until the end of November – showcases the work of the acclaimed indigenous Australian contemporary artist, Dr. Christian Thompson AO.
His works explore constructs and ideas of identity, sexuality, gender, cultural hybridity, memory and history, often highlighting the relationships between these concepts and the environment. You can catch it at the new Soho Photography Quarter area of The Photographer’s Gallery.
You’ll find the exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London, W1F 7LW. Nearest station is Oxford Circus. Runs until November 30. Free.
Running until December at the Museum of London, this London photography exhibition is a free display celebrating one of the UK’s most beloved sporting heroes – both on and off the pitch.
The display brings together rarely-seen personal items, family photos and personal objects to document Harry’s career so far: from playing at his first club, to winning golden boot awards and subsequently being named the Captain of English football.
You’ll find the exhibition at the Museum of London, 150 London Wall, Barbican, London, EC2Y 5HN. Nearest station is Barbican. Runs until December 4. Free.
A yearly event which has been running since 1965, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year always deserves a spot on this roundup of the best photography exhibitions in London. Running from October 22 until July 2023 in a newly-designed exhibition space, it will showcase ‘100 remarkable photographs which illustrate the precious beauty of our planet‘.
Sneak-peak photographs for 2022 include an octopus hiding in a shell in Indonesia’s Lumbar Strait, a southern right whale off the coast of New Zealand – which were very nearly hunted to extinction – and a polar bear gazing out of an abandoned house in Kolyuchin in Russia’s Far East.
You’ll find the exhibition at The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 5BD. Nearest station is South Kensington. Runs from October 14 until July 2023. From £17.
The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize is a leading international competition that celebrates and promotes the very best in contemporary photography from all around the globe.
Selected by a panel of judges from 4,462 entries, three portraits have been shortlisted as potential winner, and the winner will be announced on Tuesday October 25. Along with these three portraits, you’ll be able to view many other fascinating photographs at the exhibition, which runs from October 27 to December 18 at Cromwell Place.
You’ll find the exhibition at 4 Cromwell Place, South Kensington, London, SW7 2JE. Nearest station is South Kensington. Runs from October 27 to December 18. From £9.
When it comes to photography exhibitions in London, this one is probably the one for all members of the family. Housing iconic production photographs from all the Harry Potter films, the Harry Potter Photographic Exhibition will give fans a behind-the-scenes, all-access look at some of the movie magic.
Key moments covered include Harry’s first day at Hogwarts in The Philosopher’s Stone all the way through to the Battle of Hogwarts in the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
Perhaps best of all, you’ll be able to ride over London on your very own broomstick – via green screen of course – and can slurp on a lovely pint of butterbeer. Elsewhere in town, you can also join your very own Harry Potter photo tour – grab your tickets for that here.
You’ll find the exhibition at the London Film Museum, 45 Wellington Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 7BN. Nearest station is Covent Garden. Runs indefinitely. From £20 per adult and £14 per child.
So there you have it – a roundup of the best photography exhibitions in London. So what are you waiting for culture vultures? Get out and there and get inspired!