Photo London 2017

On the 18^th May, I decided to do a day trip down to London for the 1^st day of Photo London at Somerset house. This show brings together the world’s leading galleries in a major international photography fair. I saw this as a great opportunity to see a wide range of work all in one space. There were so much to look at and I took photos of some of the work that particularly caught my eye on the day. Here I have selected a few variations of work to show from the exhibition as examples of a fraction of what was on show at Photo London. 

One of the aspects of the exhibition I found the most interesting were the range of different sized photographs there were to see, and how the size of the image changed the way in which you viewed the image and in some cases interpreted it differently. For example the larger prints allowed you to stand back whereas the tiny prints as seen in the left allowed the viewer to get up close which felt a lot more personal. This is a really important aspect to consider when your producing, displaying and how you want the work to be interpreted.

Another element of the exhibitions were the books on display. From recently doing a narrative project in which I produced a book myself, this is a new found interest within photography. There is so much to consider when making a book yourself and seeing different books can show the many ways in which they can be produced and how this effects the viewer and the work which is been seen. As I went for the day there wasn't much time to really look through all the books but I thought these large scales ones displayed in boxes were interesting as its not really a common size for a book.

This is a good example of how the scale of the image can impact you as a viewer. The large scale of these images almost seemed real life and put you into the moment as if you were stood at the train platform, this wouldn't of been achieved if they were small scale prints.

Another element that really stood out to me were the creative aspects of the work. Some photographs work perfectly in a frame and left as they are, yet some others can be really experimented with. The top 3 images really caught my eye at how photography is been used as a sculptural element which I thought was a really different way to view it which in turn caused interest to the work. This has shown me to consider the many different ways photography can be used and displayed beyond just framing.

Overall it was a great trip to see the exhibition and the wide variety of work that could be seen all in one place was amazing. Everywhere you looked there was something different and catching your eye. I do believe seeing photos in print allows you to appreciate and see the work in a completely different way than you would in a book or on a screen. It also adds the elements of the type of print, the scale of the work and the framing which can all change the impact a photo has on the viewer and is an important element to consider in my future projects.

As it was my first time going to the fair, I underestimated the size of it and the amount there were to see. With going in one day there just weren’t enough time to walk around all of it and see everything. If I were to go again, I would visit the fair over 2 days so that it would be less overwhelming and I could take more than one visit so that I could go around it all and take time to see everything.