The 8 Best Photography Exhibitions Coming to London in 2026

We would possibly solely be a few weeks into the brand new 12 months, however 2026 is already wanting like a stellar classic for London’s arts and tradition scene, with main new venues on the horizon – together with the brand new London Museum, the opening of V&A East and a everlasting dwelling for the Museum of Youth Culture – and a few fabulous artwork reveals and museum exhibitions to look ahead to. 

And for those who haven’t already crammed up your diary for the subsequent few months, we’ve acquired much more unmissable tradition for you within the type of some eye-catching images exhibitions. Make probably the most of ‘planuary’ by organising your upcoming excursions to those reveals encompassing all the pieces from snapshots of queer communities and American city life to cutting-edge wildlife and style images. 

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The 8 finest images exhibitions coming to London in 2026

1. ‘Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography’ at Tate Modern

When the digicam was first invented, it was a marvel of science, capable of seize pictures with an accuracy that had by no means been seen earlier than. But quickly, as a substitute of being seen as a rival to painters and sculptors, photographers started to affix them as artists, keen on all of the artistic prospects of this new technique of picture making. Tate Modern’s autumn opening explores how artwork images emerged as a self-discipline between the Eighteen Eighties and Nineteen Sixties, taking a global method that spans locations from Shanghai to Sydney, New York to Cape Town, and Brazil to Singapore.

Tate Modern. Oct 14-Feb 21 2027. More particulars right here. 

2. ‘Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography’ at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Dulwich Picture Gallery’s huge summer season exhibition might be an intriguing distinction with the pastoral landscapes present in its everlasting assortment. Portrait of a City is all about American city life, as documented by photographers between 1907 and 2012. It’ll provide an enchanting perception into how huge cities together with New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco grew from low-rise communities into towering assemblages of skyscrapers and multi-lane visitors. Photos from huge names together with Diane Arbus, Lewis Hine and Dorothea Lange will chart the faces and sights of cities in flux.

Dulwich Picture Gallery. More particulars right here. 

3. Nan Goldin: ‘The Ballad of Sexual Dependency’ at Gagosian

American icon Nan Goldin’s seminal images sequence goes on show in full for the primary time ever within the UK to mark the fortieth anniversary of its publication as a photobook. Featuring 123 images shot between 1973 and 1986, it’s an intimate, wistful portrait of Goldin’s downtown NYC neighborhood – together with popular culture icons like Cookie Mueller and Greer Lankton – shot in the saturated, moody hues which have change into her signature.

Gagosian Davies St. Until Mar 21. Free. More particulars right here.

4. Nhu Xuan Hua: ‘Of walking on fire’ at Autograph

French Vietnamese artist Nhu Xuan Hua will take over each of Autograph Gallery’s essential areas this spring with newly commissioned work on the intersection of artwork and style images. It will draw on her Vietnamese parentage, reimagining her household images to discover the fragility of reminiscence, and what’s misplaced between generations

Autograph. Apr 16-Sep19. Free. More particulars right here. 

5. Catherine Opie: ‘To Be Seen’ on the National Portrait Gallery

The Portrait Gallery builds on its sensible programming in 2025 with the primary main UK exhibition on Catherine Opie, the American photographer finest identified for her stylised, painterly portraits of queer communities. It’ll span the Ohio-born artist’s three-decade profession, from her first main sequence ‘Being and Having’ (1991) to later images of kids, surfers, highschool footballers, political crowds and self-portraits.

National Portrait Gallery. Mar 5-May 31. £19.50. More particulars right here.

6. ‘Water Pantanal Fire’ on the Science Museum

The Science Museum’s free springtime images exhibition will illustrate the wonder and fragility of the world’s largest wetland, the Pantanal, which sprawls throughout Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. Over 60 pictures, captured by two of Brazil’s main documentary photographers, will characteristic, introducing guests to the realm’s wonderful biodiversity with images of jaguars, howler monkeys, caiman and marsh deer, whereas additionally documenting the ravages of wildfires and deforestation. 

Science Museum. Feb 6-May 31. Free. More particulars right here. 

7. ‘We Others’: Donna Gottschalk and Hélène Giannecchini at The Photographers’ Gallery

Get a glimpse of the hidden lives of queer individuals in midcentury New York at this intimate exhibition. Before homosexuality was legalised, Donna Gottschalk photographed the individuals she described as ‘brave and defiant warriors’ for daring to dwell overtly as themselves, and participate within the rising lesbian, trans and homosexual rights actions. 

The Photographers’ Gallery. Mar 6-Jun 7. £8.50. More particulars right here. 

8. Tim Walker’s ‘Fairyland: Love and Legends’ on the National Portrait Gallery

The Portrait Gallery collaborates with one other large title in modern images for its autumn exhibition. Best identified for his eye-popping, fantastical style images for titles together with British Vogue, i-D, W, Vanity Fair and Another Man, British photographer Tim Walker has spent the previous 5 years photographing the nation’s LGBTQ+ trailblazers in preparation for this main exhibition, his first present in London since the V&A’s acclaimed one in 2019.

National Portrait Gallery. Oct 8-Jan 31 2027. More particulars right here.