The London Look is an exhibition of the finalists of The London Look photography challenge. The challenge, a collaboration between the Horniman Museum and Gardens and lifestyle and culture website Londonist, attracted over 350 entries. The images offer a diverse view of contemporary London seen through the eyes of both professional and amateur photographers. Participants were asked if there was a definitive ‘London Look’, to consider the varied style of Londoners, and capture the essence of the city through street photography, either spontaneous or posed. The London Look exhibition runs from Saturday 1st until Sunday 30th September.

Horniman Museum and Gardens Press Release

What is The London Look?

The London Look
Horniman Museum and Gardens
1st – 30th September 2012
Free

After a summer when the eyes of the world have been focused on London, the Horniman Museum and Gardens celebrates our capital with an exhibition of the finalists of The London Look photography challenge.

The challenge, a collaboration between the Horniman and lifestyle and culture website Londonist, attracted over 350 entries. The images offer a diverse view of contemporary London seen through the eyes of both professional and amateur photographers.

Participants were asked if there was a definitive ‘London Look’, to consider the varied style of Londoners, and capture the essence of the city through street photography, either spontaneous or posed.

The competition was inspired by the Horniman’s current exhibition The Body Adorned: Dressing London, which reveals how a diverse population clothe and adorn their bodies to find their place in the metropolis.  The exhibition considers how the movement of people, objects and ideas influenced London dress in the past and explores body adornment in today’s world city of London.

The London Look exhibition, which runs from Saturday 1st until Sunday 30th September and coincides with London Fashion Week will display the 14 selected finalists, which include the two winning images: ‘Who’s that girl, Half Way to Heaven?’ which was taken near Charing Cross by Robbie Ewing on 26th July during the Olympic Torch Relay event, and ‘Sharped dressed man’ by Pete Zelewski.

The judges included Helen Trompeteler, Assistant Curator of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery: “The final selection of 14 photographs capture and celebrate the diversity and individuality found in London style. Congratulations to all the selected photographers including Pete Zelewski for his striking portrait of Mishael, and Robbie Ewing for his beautifully observed portrait of a girl cast in evening light.”

One of the winning photographers, Rob Ewing: “My image was a combination of skill and serendipity. The skill part - late evening sunshine - gives you nice long shadows, halos around people. I then just had to wait for someone stylish, or with an interesting look, to walk into the sweet spot. The luck part was this mysterious girl walking past a few minutes later. She was distracted be her phone, so was walking slowly and I had time to get the focus right. People are so distracted by their smart phones these days, walking down the street looking at your phone is a definite London look.”

Pete Zelewski, whose picture also caught the judges’ attention: “My photograph of economics student Mishael was taken just off Old Compton Street in London’s Soho. I randomly spotted Mishael from afar and with his cool and stylish appearance I knew I had to photograph him. With the sun just setting I positioned Mishael in the middle of Poland Street, shot low using the streets converging lines to draw attention to his strong and confident frame.”

Lindsey Clarke from Londonist: “We love quirky, fun, original London photography and are committed to showcasing and sharing it through our online and offline channels. Londonist’s Flickrpool for readers to share their digitized love of London now contains over 180,000 images of the capital from over 5,000 contributors. It’s fantastic to be able to offer these brilliant photographers and the general public an opportunity to be exhibited at the Horniman.”

Adrian Murphy from the Horniman Museum and Gardens: “We are delighted and impressed with the exceptional photographs submitted to this challenge and we hope visitors will enjoy the exhibition, either online via our website, or by visiting the Horniman.”

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