The Photographers’ Gallery is a microcosm of luscious images and exhibitions, talks, books, and a coffee shop. Everyone seems to be ‘ooh-ing’ at the superb displays. I always riffle through the brochures at the front (to see what else is on in town), and I always wish I had all day to visit.
The hidden turnings-around corners I find a delight, as I never see what’s coming until I get there. There’s something new about to start, or just finishing, so it’s very ‘buzzy’. It’s well placed, in Covent Garden, to be right near another destination, so I can and do visit it pretty darn often.
It is a venue, but it’s also an event in itself. I missed my chance to sign up for a Monday night course on History of Photography, but that’s life. There was lots to see and do here to make up for it.
Getty Images Gallery is an altogether different type of space; it is a bit closer to Mayfair and Bond Street, one empty room and a big console desk in the middle. Eye -level black and white scenes of London, London people, London landmarks, London celebrities. Gosh what a theme !
There wasn’t only the Time Out show there, however. In the back room there’s a range of magnificent framed ‘iconic’ shots : Biba’s in its heyday complete with high-fashion slinky model and several of Mr S Connery Esq in what looks like film stills. The walls are festooned with fashion and movie-land images. They have an eye for commerce though, as each photo has is name-tag, which also says that it may be purchased framed or unframed, at any size you want.
I found myself chin-wagging with a bunch of first and second-year HNC bods, and it seems the gallery is a big hit with us.
The Time Out ‘London through a lens’ exhibition is also a book, which three of us rushed out to Foyle’s to buy. It’s easy to flip through the pages admiring all the views of the London I love, but I took a few minutes to read the Introduction. This gives a quick history of the archive now part of Getty Images, and the capricious fate which nearly befell this archive at the end of WW I; the glass negatives nearly turned into greenhouses !
Time Out’s connection is that they edited the book, and also ran a photo-submission link for a while, eg. send in your images of London; my friends and I did do so. It’s still going, as Time Out magazine still wants us to send our photos to the Big Smoke at showcase@timeout.com . The ‘London through a lens’ show was due to end on 27th September, but has now been extended through November.
In conclusion, this gallery visit afternoon was fabulous. I have loads of memories of crisp sharp images neatly tucked away in my head, ready to inspire me on my next photo-shoot.
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