It was announced last week that Photo-London and Paris Photo, owned by Reed Expositions France, are to merge in a deal which Daniel Newburg, director of Photo-London, described as 'fantastic news'. With London's photography market still trailing behind that of New York, this new relationship between the fledgling Photo-London, started in May 2004, and Paris Photo, the world's major photography fair, will give both fairs more power within the art market and, crucially, enable Photo-London to expand.
Photo-London 2007 will take place from 31 May -3 June 2007, with the first significant change under Reed being a new venue. Old Billingsgate, a 19th-century market building renovated in 1988 by architect Richard Rogers, will give the fair 7,800 square metres of floor space, three times that of the Royal Academy, Photo-London's venue to date. This will mean that the fair can increase the number of galleries it is able to host from 45 to 60. The additional space at Billingsgate will also enable Photo-London's extensive programme of education events and talks to take place on site rather than dotted around the city in different locations.
In order to maximise on the interntional traffic in London for Photo-London Christie's have moved the dates of their photography sale to coincide with the dates of the fair.
Photo-London will continue to show show early, modern and contemporary photography and so far the calibre of international galleries signing up for next year is 'outstanding', says Newburg.
Photo-London 2007
31 May -3 June
1 Old Billingsgate Walk
Lower Thames Street
EC3R 6DX London
Paris Photo 2007
November 15-18
Guest of honour: Italy
99 rue de Rivoli
75001 Paris
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