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 lives of those in a range of African countries 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 2023:
1. A World In Common: Contemporary African Photography
Bringing together a group of artists from a whole host of different generations, this much-anticipated photography exhibition at the Tate Modern ‘will address how photography, film, audio, and more have been used to reimagine Africa’s diverse cultures and historical narratives’. Running until January 2024, it’ll reflect aspects of the whole continent and will explore themes of spirituality, identity, urbanism and the climate emergency throughout the continent too.
📍 You’ll find the exhibition at the Tate Modern, Bankside, London, SE1 9TG.
🚇 Nearest station is Blackfriars.
📅 Runs until January 14 2024.
🎟️ From £17.
2. Astronomy Photography of the Year
The Astronomy Photography of the Year is a photography exhibition at Greenwich’s National Maritime Museum featuring the world’s greatest space photography. Photographers from across the globe compete to take home the prestigious title, and over 100 photographs will be on show this year.
From ghost-like galaxies to fiery red suns, 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 August 13 2023.
🎟️ From £10.
3. Gideon Mendel: Fire / Flood
On show in the recently launched Soho Photography Quarter (SPQ) by The Photographer’s Gallery, this exciting new cultural space presents incredible free open-air exhibitions and projections, and this exhibition showcases Mendel’s personal response to the current climate crisis. As you’d expect from the title, this timely exhibition will focus on the floods and fires which are devastating our planet. Pretty sobering stuff it has to be said.
📍 You’ll find the exhibition at The Photographer’s Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London, W1F 7LW.
🚇 Nearest station is Oxford Circus.
📅 Runs until September 30 2023.
🎟️ Free.
4. Wildlife Photographer of the Year
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 until July 23 2023.
🎟️ From £17.
5. Evelyn Hofer
This is the first UK solo exhibition of the German-American photographer Evelyn Hofer, whose work tended to include characteristically considered, large-format portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, still lifes and domestic interiors too. She’s been billed as ‘the most famous unknown photographer in America’ by the famous New York Times art critic Hilton Kramer, and this major photography exhibition spans 45 years of image-making, featuring over 110 black and white and colour images, as well as ephemera and books too.
📍 You’ll find the exhibition at The Photographer’s Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London, W1F 7LW.
🚇 Nearest station is Oxford Circus.
📅 Runs until September 24 2023.
🎟️ Free.
6. Paul McCartney 1963-1964, Eyes of the Storm
This fantastic photography exhibition reveals an eclectic range of photographs shot by Paul McCartney in the early 60’s.These never-before-seen images offer a uniquely personal perspective on what it was like to be a ‘Beatle’ at the start of ‘Beatlemania’, when The Beatles were catapulted from a British sensation to a global phenomenon. If you’re aged 30 or under, it costs just a fiver to enter here (it’s free for members), and you can tell that this is one definitely not to miss!
📍 You’ll find the exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE.
🚇 Nearest station is Charing Cross.
📅 Runs until October 1 2023.
🎟️ From £5 (for those aged 30 and under) or £22 for adults above.
7. Eric Gyamfi: Fixing Shadows – Julius and I
Fixing Shadows – Julius and I is artist Eric Gyamfi’s personal homage to the composer Julius Eastman, a musical prodigy, a radical classical composer and Grammy-nominated vocalist ‘who combined minimalism with political provocation and elements of pop music‘. Each image on show here is unique, and are designed to show thousands of subtle variations in which their faces merge and reappear in new forms. Pretty extraordinary stuff if we say so ourselves!
📍 You’ll find the exhibition at Autograph, Rivington Place, London, EC2A 3BA.
🚇 Nearest station is Old Street.
📅 Runs until September 2 2023.
🎟️ Free.
8. Civilization: The Way We Live Now
Featuring over 350 works by 150 internationally renowned photographers, this excellent new exhibition lifts the curtain behind humanity’s rapidly mutating collective life across the globe. Featuring many previously unseen images, Civilization: The Way We Live Now acknowledges the diverse material and spiritual cultures that make up global societies today, spanning Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Americas too.
📍 You’ll find the exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Road, London, SW3 4RY.
🚇 Nearest station is Sloane Square.
📅 Runs until September 17 2023.
🎟️ From £16.
9. Yevonde: Life and Colour
Yevonde: Life and Colour tells the story of a woman who gained freedom through photography – as she experimented with her medium and blazed a new trail for portrait photographers. Supported by the prestigious CHANEL Culture Fund, this fab new exhibition covers many of the works produced by Yevonde over a colourful sixty-year career, particularly in high-society magazines like Tatler and The Sketch, so this is one you really don’t want to miss out on.
📍 You’ll find the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE.
🚇 Nearest station is Charing Cross.
📅 Runs until October 15 2023.
🎟️ From £15.
10. Ajamu: The Patron Saint of Darkrooms
For more than three decades, Ajamu has unapologetically celebrated black queer bodies, the erotic sense and pleasure as activism. He has been at the forefront of genderqueer photography, challenging dominant ideas around masculinity, gender, sexuality and representation of black LGBTQ+ people in the United Kingdom. This intriguing photography exhibition is dominated by an imagined darkroom – coated in thick lines of latex – as well as tender depictions of lovers and charged self-portraits of friends.
📍 You’ll find the exhibition at Autograph, Rivington Place, London, EC2A 3BA.
🚇 Nearest station is Old Street.
📅 Runs until September 2 2023.
🎟️ Free.
11. Colors Festival, Camden
Colors Festival has finally opened its doors in London and you can still grab your tickets for it. It’s taking over 1000m² of reimagined space in one of London’s street art hubs, Camden for an unforgettable art experience. Taking place in Camden Market’s Hawley Wharf, you’ll get the chance to see the works of 35 incredibly talented artists from both the international and local art communities. The experience spans a number of artistic mediums, including photography, and is displayed in larger than life fashion in rooms themed by colour. Get your tickets here.
📍 You’ll find the exhibition at Camden Market Hawley Wharf, 1 Dockray Place, London, NW1 8QH.
🚇 Nearest station is Camden Town.
📅 Runs until September 3 2023.
🎟️ From £9.99.
12. The Harry Potter Photographic Exhibition at the London Film Museum
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.
📍 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 to look forward to for the remainder of 2023. So what are you waiting for culture vultures? Get out and there and get inspired!