One of the best ways to gain inspiration for your photography and exploring different styles is by experiencing and viewing the work of other photographers and artists. We’ve put together a selection of the best exhibitions on around the UK during 2022 to see photography; including exhibitions that present photographs alongside other disciplines.
Below, you’ll find the information you need including dates, location and ticket details to plan your trips.
We will be updating this page with the latest information regularly, so be sure to check back!
Best Photography Exhibitions to see in 2022
- Amazônia, Science and Industry Museum
- Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point
- Street Photography Assignments, Fujifilm House of Photography
- Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear, Victoria and Albert Museum Dundee
- Surrealism Beyond Borders, Tate Modern
- How to Win at Photography, The Photographers Gallery
- International Photography Exhibition 163, RPS Gallery
- Astronomy Photographer of the Year, National Maritime Museum
- Taylor Wessing Photography Portrait Prize 2022, Cromwell Place
- Sony World Photography Awards, Open Eye Gallery
- Travel Photographer of the Year, Chester Cathedral
- Vivian Maier, MK Gallery
- Wildlife Photographer of the Year 58, Natural History Museum
- Bird Photographer of the Year 2022, TBC
- Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2022
- Hannah Starkey, The Hepworth Wakefield
- FORMAT21: Control, Online
- Bird Photographer of the Year
Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point
Four Corners Gallery
- On now until 10 September 2022
- Tuesday – Saturday 11am-6pm, until 8pm Thursdays
- Free entry
- 121 Roman Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 0QN. Nearest tube: Bethnal Green, Central Line
A major exhibition of photographs by Paul Trevor documents a dramatic struggle for justice. Following the racist murder of Altab Ali in May 1978, east London’s young Bengali community took to the streets in protest. Four Corners’ new exhibition, Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point, brings together seventy of Paul Trevor’s images alongside accounts of pioneering activists, to produce a powerful narrative of the time.
The show marks the culmination of a major heritage project led by Four Corners and Swadhinata Trust with a dedicated group of volunteers, and who have interviewed many people involved in these momentous events. The exhibition pays tribute to a generation whose actions changed the course of civil rights in the UK.
Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point
Street Photography Assignments
Fujifilm House of Photography, London
- On now until 29 September
- Free entry
- 8-9 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9LH
Urban Photographers Club founder and exhibition organiser Jovis Leigh Howieson conceived the idea for this project when the UK entered its second lockdown in October 2020, with the aim of completing it over 12 months. The images within this exhibition has have all been made from Urban Photographers Club members in response to the 52 Assignments: Street Photography book by Brian Lloyd Duckett (published by Ammonite Press) and have been curated by him for this showing.
Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear
Victoria and Albert Museum, Dundee
- On now until 6 November 2022
- Thursday – Monday 10am – 5pm
- Tickets: Adults £20
- 1 Riverside Esplanade, Dundee, Scotland DD1 4EZ
Opening March 2022, Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear will be the first major V&A exhibition to celebrate the power, artistry and diversity of masculine attire and appearance. The show will trace how menswear has been fashioned and refashioned over the centuries, and how designers, tailors and artists – and their clients and sitters – have constructed and performed masculinity, and unpicked it at the seams.
Fashioning Masculinities will present around 100 looks and 100 artworks, displayed thematically across three galleries. Contemporary looks by legendary designers and rising stars will be displayed alongside historical treasures from the V&A’s collections and landmark loans: classical sculptures, Renaissance paintings, iconic photographs, and powerful film and performance.
Photography on display will include images by David Hockney, Lionel Wendt, Zanele Muholi and Isaac Julien.
In partnership with Gucci
Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear
Surrealism Beyond Borders
Tate Modern, London
- On now until 29 August 2022
- Open daily 10am – 6pm
- Tickets: £18 / Free with ticket for Members, £5 Tate Collective, Concessions available
- Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
Surrealism is not a style – but a state of mind. It aims to subvert reality. To find the uncanny in the everyday. To tap into our unconscious desires and bring dreams to life. And for many artists around the world, it has been a way to challenge authority and imagine a new world.
Previous stories of surrealism have focused on Paris in the 1920s. Based on extensive research, this exhibition will reach across the world and over 50 years. It will show how artists around the world have been inspired and united by surrealism – from centres as diverse as Buenos Aires, Cairo, Lisbon, Mexico City, Prague, Seoul, and Tokyo.
The exhibition will feature over 150 works, many of which have not been shown before in the UK. Including photographs by Cecilia Porras and Enrique Grau, alongside the likes of Lee Miller and Man Ray.
Surrealism Beyond Borders is presented in the Eyal Ofer Galleries. Research supported by Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational in partnership with Hyundai Motor. Exhibition organised by Tate Modern and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
How to Win at Photography
The Photographers Gallery
- On now until 25 September 2022
- Monday-Wednesday and Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 11am-6pm, Thursday and Friday 10am – 8pm.
- 16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW
- Tickets: £5/£2.50 Concession
A new multimedia exhibition exploring the relationships between photography, image-making and play. It invites audiences to focus on the playful aspects of visual culture, and creates unexpected connections between the history of photography and the practices of image-making within computer games and wider digital screen culture.
Featuring over 30 international artists and a rich assemblage of multimedia artworks and vernacular images representing a variety of positions across contemporary and twentieth century photography, How to Win at Photography questions the very meaning and function of photography today.
International Photography Exhibition 163
RPS Gallery, Bristol
- On now until 21 August 2022
- Thursday – Sunday (and Bank Holiday Mondays), 10am – 5 pm
- The Royal Photographic Society, RPS House, 337 Paintworks, Arnos Vale, Bristol, BS4 3AR.
The International Photography Exhibition (IPE) is the world’s longest running photography exhibition. Now in its 163rd edition, the IPE 163 is a powerful exhibition that demonstrates the breadth of contemporary image-making and storytelling today. It explores themes of identity, cultural heritage, global societal issues, gender politics, mental health, the natural world, and the human condition.
A total of 105 works by 57 photographers will be on display in the International Photography Exhibition 163 at RPS Gallery.
RPS International Photography Exhibition
Hug, from the series Men Don’t Cry, © KyeongJun Yang
Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
National Maritime Museum, London
- Exhibition opens 17th September 2022
- Open daily 10am – 5pm
- Tickets: £10 adults, £6.50 concessions
- Park Row, London, England SE10 9NF
Astronomy Photographer of the Year is an annual exhibition showcasing the world’s greatest space photography.
This year’s exhibition is now open at the National Maritime Museum, featuring over 100 photographs on brilliant lightbox displays. Including ‘The Golden Ring’ by Overall Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2021 winner, Shuchang Dong, and category winners Deepal Ratnayaka (UK), Nicolas Lefaedeux (France) and Paul Eckhardt (USA).
Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition
‘The Golden Ring’ by Shuchang Dong, Overall Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2021 winner. © Shuchang Dong
Taylor Wessing Photography Portrait Prize 2022
Cromwell Place, London
- 27 October – 18 December 2022
-
4 Cromwell Pl, South Kensington, London SW7 2JE
- Tickets: Adults £8
The prize-winning photographs and those selected for inclusion in the exhibition were chosen from 4,462 submissions entered by 1,697 photographers from 62 countries. A total of 51 portraits from 36 artists have been selected for display in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 exhibition.
Tickets will be available to purchase at npg.org.uk from 22 August 2022.
Taylor Wessing photographic Portrait Prize 2022
Sony World Photography Awards
Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool
- 10 November – 11 December 2022
- Wednesday – Sunday, 11am – 4pm
- 19 Mann Island, Liverpool Waterfront, Liverpool L3 1BP
More details to be confirmed
2022 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition
Travel Photographer of the Year
Chester Cathedral, Chester
- 2nd – 28th October 2022
- 9am Monday to Saturday and at 11.30am Sundays. The Cathedral closes at 5pm Monday to Saturday and at 4pm Sundays.
- 9 Abbey Square, Chester, England CH1 2HU
An exhibition of selected winning images from the TPOTY awards will be travelling to Chester Cathedral.
Vivian Maier
MK Gallery, Milton Keynes
- On now until 25 September 2022
- Tuesday – Sunday 10am-5pm
- MK Gallery, 900 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9 3QA
- Tickets: Free – £9.50
Vivian Maier (1926-2009) has only recently been revealed as one of the most significant photographers of the 20th century. From carefree children and glamorous housewives to the homeless and destitute, Maier’s portraits capture the highs and lows of everyday life. Street scenes with shop fronts, arcades and aerial shots use shadows and reflections to capture the improvised moments that make up a community. Smouldering furniture, abandoned toys, tangles of electric cables all set the scene as families, workers and commuters go about their daily business.
Vivian Maier, New York, July 27, 1954 © Estate of Vivian Maier, Courtesy of Maloof Collection and Howard Greenberg Gallery, NY
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 58
- 14 October 2022 – 2 July 2023
- Monday – Sunday, 10am-5:50pm
- Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD
- Tickets: from £17
Discover the natural world in all its wonder and diversity at the newly redesigned Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, where 100 remarkable photographs illustrate the precious beauty of our planet. We have been given a sneak peek of the shortlisted photographs that hope to win the grand title prize.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 58 exhibition
© Laurent Ballesta, Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021
Bird Photographer of the Year 2022
- September 2022 – August 2023
An exhibition of 70-80 of the winning images will go on an international tour.
Dates and venues to be confirmed, more information soon.
Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2022
RPS Gallery, Bristol
- 20 November – 12 December 2022
- The Royal Photographic Society, RPS House, 337 Paintworks, Arnos Vale, Bristol, BS4 3AR.
- Free
Exhibition of the 2022 finalists – More information soon
Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year
Kebabiyana. © Debdatta Chakraborty/Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2022
Hannah Starkey
The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, Yorkshire
- 20 October 2022 – 30 April 2023
- Wednesday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm
- Tickets: £10-12, FREE for Members
- Gallery Walk, Wakefield, England WF1 5AW
The Hepworth Wakefield will present the first major survey of British photographer Hannah Starkey, tracing the development of her work across two decades. Throughout her career, Starkey’s meticulously choreographed photographs have determinedly engaged with how women are represented in contemporary culture, an issue which is now centre stage.
On display will be photographs from Starkey’s graduation show in 1997 that immediately brought her widespread acclaim, through to a newly commissioned body of work that will be created with young women in Wakefield in 2022.
Hannah Starkey at The Hepworth Wakefield
Hannah Starkey, Untitled, May 1997, 1997 framed c-type print mounted on aluminium 122 x 162 cm © Hannah Starkey. Courtesy Maureen Paley, London.
FORMAT21: Control
Format International Photography Festival, Online
- On now online until March 2023
FORMAT in collaboration with New Art City have presented the 2021 international photography festival online in a purpose-built multi-player virtual gallery space.
The exhibitions split across 20 galleries includes over 160 international artists and a selection of the 40,000 images submitted from over 90 countries from the #massisolationFORMAT archive created during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Further reading
Best photography competitions to enter in 2022
Best photography books of 2021
