Photography takes center stage at Frieze London and across the city, with major exhibitions of Lee Miller at Tate Britain, Wolfgang Tillmans at Maureen Paley, Arthur Jafa at Sadie Coles, and Marina Abramović stills at Saatchi Yates. At Frieze Masters, Pace Gallery dedicated its booth to Peter Hujar, selling six prints on opening day at prices from $25,000 to $45,000. Commercial galleries like Gagosian and David Zwirner are investing heavily in photography, with Zwirner bringing Diane Arbus to London for the first time in a UK commercial context.
The surge in photography's prominence reflects a blurring of the line between photography and fine art, accelerated by the pandemic-era shift to digital viewing rooms. Historically marginalized in the fine art world, photography is now being embraced by top galleries and institutions, signaling a market correction and growing collector appetite. The article highlights how photographers are increasingly working in small editions to bridge the gap, and how London is catching up to Paris and New York as a hub for the medium.