Latest news from London's buzzing photography scene

London has been at the forefront of the photography world over the past few weeks with several key industry events. We went to fotofringe, Photo London and Offprint to get a flavour of where the photography world is heading.

fotofringe

Dubbed as the UK’s single-most important event for image licensing, we joined over 80 specialist photo agencies at fotofringe. This event has certainly become a fixture in our exhibition calendar and a great place to chat to our clients.

We took the opportunity to get the lay of the land from our fellow stock agencies, many of whom felt that business was beginning to pick up, reporting slightly more optimism amongst their clients. End user prices for the use of specialist content were also holding up and even increasing.

Growing numbers of specialist agencies were ‘going it alone’ and not placing their content on the major platforms, and innovative licensing models were being tested with clients, with many agencies moving away from the cumbersome rights managed model based on numerous pieces of usage information.

Photo London

This is the third year that London’s international photography fair, Photo London, took over Somerset House in the Strand, taking its place as a serious fixture in photography-lovers’ calendars, among the more established European fairs. At around £30 per ticket, the fair is aimed at serious buyers rather than casual browsers. Galleries showed a mix of vintage photographs and contemporary works, with a dedicated ‘Discovery section’ hosting lesser known galleries and artists.

This year’s edition saw almost 100 galleries and publishers on show, as well as an impressive talks series featuring the likes of Brian May discussing his stereoscopy obsession, American photography icons Bruce Davidson and William Klein, as well as satirical British photography star Martin Parr.

Alongside the fair, events such as the Deutsche Börse prize at The Photographers’ Gallery, the Prix Pictet exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Fix Photo on the Thames’ South Bank and Peckham 24 photography festival made London the place to be for photography professionals and enthusiasts.

Publishers were well represented at Photo London with numerous book-signings, the MACK first book award and Taschen’s showcase of notable special editions, including a huge limited edition Annie Leibovitz book worth £2000 per copy.

Offprint

But those wanting to truly immerse themselves in books headed to Offprint, an art and photography publishing fair filling the Tate Modern’s enormous Turbine Hall. As well as book signings and 150 stalls showcasing established and little known publishers and independent magazines, there were performances and events such as a series of public book-club sessions organised by Self-Publish Be Happy.