Top 3 Summer Exhibitions

Having recently moved to London, I've spent the last few weeks aimlessly wandering around in search of new places and exhibitions. Luckily the last few exhibitions I've visited have been some of the most interesting I've ever seen, so I thought I'd share them with you lovely people!

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS' GALLERY, OXFORD CIRCUS

First of all I visited my favourite London gallery, The Photographers' Gallery. With a grand total of £3 spent for the whole gallery, I was able to see the work of Shirley Baker with her amazing 'Women, Children and Loitering Men' exhibition. Her work inspired my A-Level street photography projects hugely, especially her focus on the rawness of British urban street life, all shot in 35mm b&w film. This particular image below was my personal favourite from the exhibition.

Moving up the gallery I came across the amazing Dazed 'We Want More: Image-Making and Music in the 21st Century' exhibition. Dazed presented 5 1/2 hours of music videos, some of which included Björk, Radiohead, and Jon Hopkins. Although I didn't spend the whole 5 1/2 hours there, I did manage to catch a glimpse of both Björk and Aphex Twin doing what they do best (going completely artistically OTT).

The excitement of Dazed continued onto the top floor of the gallery with the 'We Want More' exhibit. There is an undeniable focus on photographies relationship with modern music culture and the way in which is defies it. The rise of the digital age is seen clearly throughout the third floor, where musicians have personally connected with photographers they feel best express their music and image. This included work from Die Antwoord, Radiohead, Lady GaGa, Katy Perry and Michael Jackson lookalike portraits. My favourite of the whole exhibition was the colourful work of Gareth McConnell, which abstractly portrayed dance music fans in Ibiza.(As pictured below)

THE HAYWARD GALLERY, SOUTHBANK CENTRE

GO TO THE HAYWARD GALLERY ASAP! The Carsten Höller exhibition is with out a doubt one of the most contemporary and experimental exhibits I have ever seen. It all starts as soon as you step into the building. You are warned, with a health and safety overload and then led into a completely pitch black tunnel/maze. The tin structure is designed with multiple angles and turns to ensure complete and utter darkness. This is apparently done to enable us to experience artificially created perception of ourselves and movement around us. Frankly it was terrifying, but as a claustrophobic sissy it was bound to be.

The rest of the exhibition was just as obscure as the entrance, and with a real focus on perception, much of the exhibition was interactive. Pictured below are thousands of red and white pills which are dropped from a small hole in the ceiling every few seconds, and pictured below that is my friend using an interactive headset.

                                        

Also don't forget the slides on the way out! I'm talking three floors high worth of spiralling silver tubes, snaking there way down the side of the building, all made extra fun and fast with an adult sized potato sack and a little push at the top. 

THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, TRAFALGAR 

Last but by no means least is the fabulously glamorous 'Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon' exhibition in The National Portrait Gallery. With A Roman Holiday being one of my favourite films, and Miss Hepburn being a big style icon of mine, the exhibition was right on point for me. I had had a bit of a taster for Hollywood glamour after previously visiting the gallery in 2012 for the 'Glamour of the Gods' exhibition. Which had included portraits of Miss Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Jean Harlow. 

The elegant exhibition depicts her transition from chorus girl to movie star and everything in between. It especially focuses on her role as a fashion icon during the 60s, 70s and 80s. It provides us with both classic and famous images that we have all seen time and time again as well as some unseen images, provided by the Hepburn family. The enchantment of this exhibition doesn't lie with the reputable work of the photographers, such as Norman Parkinson and Cecil Beaton, but instead with the sheer beauty and gracefulness of Audrey Hepburn herself. 

Unlike the other two more modern exhibitions, this one is all about playing by the rules. Although contemporary exhibitions are entertaining, everyone one needs a masterclass in classical portraiture and fashion photography now and again, and this is exactly the place to do it.