IT was a major occasion when Photo London 2021 came to town. There had been no photo fairs since 2019, and this one happened to coincide with the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Rarely has a happening been as much photographed as New York 20 years ago.
So many prominent photographers have made that city their home, and sure enough, the likes of Steve McCurry were on the streets for live reportage.
None of his images from that day rival the worldwide impact of his famous Afghan girl refugee for National Geographic. This picture is somehow more topical than the Twin Towers once again. It was not on show at Photo London, although just about every other essential image of the past 100 years was.
Photography has been elevated to the status of fine art for many decades. Due to Covid-19, the only way to see its many manifestations in recent times has been online.
This is a creative medium that is surprisingly inadequate on the screen of a device. The size, the texture, the framing, the eager dealers; these were all revealed again at London's suitably enormous setting of Somerset House.
It's just as well there was a lot of space available; art enthusiasts have become unaccustomed to crowds. Photo London isn't like a museum with visitor assistants lurking in corners and occasionally coming forward with some information. This event is driven by dealers.
They are not a reticent bunch, and I have to say that Covid has made them extra friendly to potential buyers. Perhaps they were always more amenable than gallery owners with a large stash of million-ringgit-plus paintings. Fine-art photography is far more reasonably priced, and you don't need to be a Monaco resident to buy it.
Most marvellous of all is that Southeast Asia is represented with greater commitment than ever. Other parts of the continent, especially China, have been a photo fixture for a while. This time, the footprint has been extended considerably. India is getting a wider audience, too, sometimes with highly innovative offerings such as Spandita Malik's print with embroidery.
OF TEXTILES AND TECHNIQUES
Textiles have always been a special offering from Southeast Asia, and at Photo London, visitors were rewarded with some spectacular innovations. Weixing Quek Chon of Singapore is part of the movement that resists placing photographic images on paper. Tradition is being overturned, not with cheesy tourist images of the Acropolis on a ceramic plate, but with textiles.
One of the most arresting images was a three-metre-high fabric with an imprint of a snake on it — perhaps not for those with a phobia about large reptiles. Nor would they like Dean West's photo of a crocodile/alligator in a swimming pool. It's conventional photography, but with a quirky aspect to it.
There were many others using textiles and associated techniques to create images that in the past might not count as photographs. They are now embraced by a generation that has seen the art move forward with digital input.
There are visions of batik turning up everywhere, including Africa, where it has been popular for a very long time. These work best in colour, inevitably. For aficionados of monochrome, Photo London was still their oyster.
The classic photos tend to be black and white, including some of the most stunning fashion images ever created. Also, in black and white was a blast from the Punk past. The generation that was young in the late 70s was lapping up the nostalgia in the grittiest monochrome.
SPIRITUAL INPUT
Something was missing, of course, and it was the same thing that is missing from every fine-art exposition. Where was the spiritual input? It's something I find puzzling as there are so many modern painted works that look back to sacred traditions.
Islamic calligraphy is especially vibrant these days. Online, there is a surfeit of images with religious content. Instagram is filled with an endless rotation of motivational words and matching photographs. Many of the tens of millions of followers don't need words at all.
Buddhist, Hindu, Jain or Jewish content was similarly invisible. Just as I thought that I'd stumbled upon a cache of Islamic material, I realised this was a hundred cases of mistaken identity.
The Iranian exile Shirin Neshat is the star of the show, being this year's Photo London Award winner. In the past, series such as Women of Allah did contain unequivocal Muslim commentary. This time she's looking at migrants in the United States. Many of the 111 photos on display have Farsi writing on them.
At first sight, I thought they were Arabic religious inscriptions and felt like a simpleton of the sort who mistakenly took their revenge on Sikhs after 9/11.
Then I realised the writing was not ISIS branding, but the names and ages of the sitters, some of whom looked like those redneck avengers from 20 years ago. The times keep changing, and photography is there to put it all in perspective.
Follow Lucien de Guise at Instagram @crossxcultural.