I caught the Landscape Photographer of the Year exhibit as it ends on Sunday, some nice prints and as in last year's, a very different experience from the book. I was sad to note that despite there being quite a few large format entries in previous years, it has dwindled and this year there was but a single large format entry which made it through, and it wasn't displayed at the exhibition.
My other main port of call was the National Portrait Gallery to catch the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibit. I also caught this last year, and once again, I think I enjoyed it more than the Landscape one. There were some fantastic images there, and the standard of printing was exceptionally high. The winning entry and quite a few others are shot on large format, which is usually very well represented in this competition. I encourage anyone, even if you're not really into portraits, to go visit this exhibit, it's on till 14th Feb, entry to the exhibit is free and well worth a look IMHO.
There was also another exhibit of 1960's photos on at the NPG, though this is a paid entrance exhibit, I did not see this one. Downstairs in the bookshop gallery next to the cafe at NPG are a handful of Jane Bown prints from her recently released book "Exposures" which is now a firm favourite on my bookshelf.
I also had a wander to The Photographer's Gallery off Oxford Street, and spent an enjoyable hour in there looking at the exhibits and browsing their extensive bookshop of obscure titles.
So go on, treat yourself to a day out of photo wanderings, I came away from London with sore feet and a smile on my face. Pick up a copy of British Journal of Photography and check out the exhibits on in London and go for a wander.
