The tenth edition of Photo London opened in Somerset House on Wednesday on the sun-drenched banks of the River Thames. Launched in 2015, the fair is now the biggest one devoted to photography in the UK. Over the past decade it’s grown alongside the Georgian-era institution that hosts it.
Somerset House’s complex also includes the Courtauld Institute of Art and other arts organizations.
“Twenty-five years ago, Somerset House’s courtyard stopped being used as a government car park, and the last civil servants moved out of the building [formerly used as offices for HM Revenue and Customs] just before Photo London’s first fair 10 years ago,” the director of Somerset House, Jonathan Reekie, told journalists at the press preview. “The last decade has been a coming of age for both us and the fair.”
Photo London, the latest edition of which runs through May 18, has also been crucial for the photography market. That market was once a niche corner of the art world. Photo London ranks as one of the top fairs in the world for photography, a medium that holds its own in the art market, despite only accounting for 1 percent of global auction sales, according to Art Basel and UBS’s 2025 Art Market Report. Leading blue-chip galleries such as Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth have begun placing increased weight on photography, with the former taking on artists like Nan Goldin, Deana Lawson, and Tyler Mitchell in the past few years.
Despite this, the medium has still suffered alongside the broader art market over the last couple of years, just not to the same extent. ArtTactic reported that photo sales at the big three auction houses dropped by 5.6 percent in 2024, totaling $59 million. By comparison, auction sales across the entire art market dropped 27 percent last year. And while the total number of photos sold at auction declined in 2024, that figure still marked the second-highest sales volume since ArtTactic’s analysis began in 2015. “While overall sales softened, the data presents a more nuanced and optimistic outlook for the photography market,” ArtTactic’s 2024 Photograph Auction Market report stated. “Growth in high-value works and single-artist sales, combined with record sell-through rates, highlights the sector’s resilience and continued appeal to collectors.”
Sophie Parker, who became Photo London’s director this year after joining the fair in 2018 as its gallery development manager, told ARTnews that this durability gives the event “a strong foundation.” She also said she’s seeing more collectors who have traditionally bought prints and editions.
Like the prints market, which is currently dominated by Gen Z and millennial buyers attracted by lower prince points, according to Art Basel and UBS’s data, the photography market is also benefiting from interest among young collectors. “I prefer to call it the young end of the market as opposed to the lower end of the market, and there’s a lot of excitement and enthusiasm as people are beginning to understand what it means to collect photography,” Michael Benson, Photo London’s cofounder, told ARTnews.
However, while this new blood is injecting life into the segment, Benson said that the “very established photography galleries have a group of collectors who have kind of aged out, and in some cases, they’re deaccessioning their collections, so this is slightly problematic.”
Organizing the fair was no walk in the park. Benson said it sometimes felt like “spinning something out of the air” as his team worked tirelessly to encourage exhibitors to commit as early as possible.
“We’re at an interesting hinge point, with many proprietors of the older galleries retiring, and the younger galleries starting to make a name for themselves, but not quite at the same level,” he said. “There are still challenges. We perhaps have one or two tricky years ahead, as the art market catches up with itself—we’re in one of those moments. There was one in the late ’80s, when everything was a bit flat, but the excitement at the younger galleries is giving us reason for strong optimism. The future of photography is very bright. It’s just a question of getting through this little moment.”
Arica Hilton, the CEO and founder of Chicago-based gallery Hilton Contemporary, is one of the 131 international exhibitors at Photo London. She’s selling a series of stunning wildlife photos by Mexican photographer Cristina Mittermeir and Canada’s Paul Nicklen, priced between $25,000 to $40,000. Hilton isn’t worried about the dip in the market. She pointed to one of the Nicklen photos, titled Ice Waterfall, which she said had quadrupled in value to $100,000 over the last five years.
“That’s not bad, is it?” she said. “It’s not always about economics, because people who buy art from us might not feel the economy contracting as much as other people. What we’re therefore trying to do is present art that will inspire and educate them. Our artists are shining a light on environmental issues and helping to pass legislation through the world.”
Freeny Yianni, the creative director of UK-based Close gallery, is showing at Photo London for the first time, including works by Anna Mossman, Carali McCall, and Trish Morrisey. “Showcasing photography from performative conceptual artists has helped us stand out, while also offering accessibly priced works by artists who typically command much higher prices,” she said. “The reality of today’s market is challenging across the board, but our role is to present the very best of what’s available to keep the market alive.”
Last year, auction sales for women photographers fell sharply by a third, according to ArtTactic, but female artists are well represented at the fair.
Twenty-one emerging photography galleries have also been given exposure in Photo London’s Discovery section: New York-based New Discretions is showing work by Jordan Eagles, who creates pieces incorporating photography, blood, and resin. Helphoto from Helsinki is presenting emerging female artists from Denmark, Sweden, and Estonia.
“This edition of Photo London is testament to all that we’ve achieved in our first decade—we have worked closely with the photography community to establish London as an important global hub for the medium,” Benson told ARTnews.
