Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/603732
9 This will be our sixth instalment of The Photographers, which is always the most fun (and frenetic) exhibition of the year. It all begins in early summer, when the team and I start to source the works, make sense of the thematic groups and finally write the catalogue. It is a tremendous project to work on, freed as we are from the constraints of most normal exhibitions, and we always learn a huge amount in the process. I am also always guilty of holding up the catalogue printing by gleefully adding in pictures at the last minute, much to the chagrin of the team who are keen on schedules and other such things. The show seems to get bigger and better each year, and in part we are able to do this because of a seismic change in the photography market that we have been lucky enough to experience. Fifteen years ago London was an insignificant backwater in the photography market, there were just a handful of dealers (very good they were too), and photography was ranked somewhere alongside Oceanic tribal masks in our national museums (now also a very trendy collecting field!). Things have changed a lot since then. London is becoming a major destination for photography, and we are seeing a new generation of collectors as a result. When I first organised a photography exhibition in 2006, as a young, green gallery assistant at the Chris Beetles Gallery, Chris and I were fairly sure that it was a bad idea. We loved Terry O'Neill's photographs, threw ourselves into the exhibition, embraced the press attention, but did not expect to sell many. Unbeknownst to us we were just about to catch a wave that was just beginning to reach our shores from America – photography collecting. The show was a roaring success, and we decided to open a gallery. But others have also ridden the wave here in London, and have both reacted to and fuelled the interest in the medium in the UK. Our national museums have done a tremendous job at promoting photography properly, and regularly, for the first time. The V&A, Tate Modern, National Media Museum, and National Portrait Gallery in particular have led the way, and the Photographers Gallery – the only dedicated public space in London – has also transformed itself into a marvellous and stimulating venue. They all have numerous exhibitions and special hangs per year, and have superb curators who have at last been given a larger stage than before. At the end of 2015, a photography fan landing at Heathrow would find it hard to see all the photography on show in one trip. They would certainly struggle if they also tried to see all the commercial gallery shows. For my competitors have expanded with the pace of change, and I am now one of many dealers who work with photography, although there are still only a dozen or so that focus on it exclusively. There is also a dedicated art fair – Photo London. It means we have to work harder at Beetles+Huxley, but I heartily embrace it. The more that the industry grows in the UK, the better the choice for collectors and the stronger the market will become as a result. Why has this happened? As mentioned above, it is partly the result of our public institutions and private dealers promoting the medium properly, but it also due to a wider cultural uptake of the medium. Photography exhibitions have gained an audience beyond a niche of enthusiasts, and are now widely visited by a broader art-loving public. At a more basic level, the surge in the numbers of people using photography every day on their smart phones has probably helped too. Amongst those people able to collect art, there has been a sudden realisation that photography represents a wonderful opportunity; aesthetically, intellectually and, given the relatively low prices, financially too. All of these factors have contributed to the vibrant city of photography that we see today, and I can only see it getting more so. The Photographers has grown each year as a result of this, and we are delighted to combine forces with the brilliant Osborne Samuel Gallery on Bruton Street, who are co-hosting the exhibition with us for the second time. Across our two spaces we have been able to create an exhibition that highlights many of the wonderful collecting areas within the medium, and it has enabled us to include many pieces that would have been impossible had we only had one gallery to fit them in! Perhaps next year we will need three galleries. I hope that you will be able to visit both spaces to enjoy this wide-ranging and unusual photographic treat, the teams at both Beetles+Huxley and Osborne and Samuel look forward to seeing you. Giles Huxley-Parlour 2015 London in the Ascendant