LONDON.- More than 20,000 visitors over 4 days attended the inaugural edition of Photo London at Somerset House, which opened to the public on Thursday 21 May 2015.

Photo London is the single-largest exhibition ever at Somerset House with 70 international galleries, 3 commissioned exhibitions, 2 installations, a robust talks programme featuring over 50 photographers and curators and 3 new award platforms. The architecture of Somerset House enabled Photo London to move away from the monolithic grid system of mega fairs and create a sequence of more intimate, interlinked spaces. The reaction from exhibitors and visitors alike has been a ringing endorsement of that approach and reaffirms the appetite for photography collecting in the capital.

“The reaction to our first edition has been astonishing - far exceeding our own expectations and predictions. Indeed many of our exhibitors have told us that Photo London is the best art fair they have ever attended. Our aim was not to be the biggest, simply to be the best and with our first edition we have taken a huge stride in that direction. Starting today we will work hard to ensure that Photo London 2016 is even better”. Michael Benson, Director, Photo London

70 galleries from around the globe presented over 2000 photographs, collectively, and sold work across a range of photographic styles. Participating dealers praised the first edition of Photo London for its organisation, location, sales and quality of attendance:

James Hyman Gallery brought an important selection of 19th century vintage prints including the most expensive work at the fair, La Grande Vague by Gustave Le Gray, priced at £250,000. “We’ve been delighted by the response to our presentation of classic 19th and 20th century photographs. Given this was the first year, it has been incredible to have such an enthusiastic and interested audience”. JAMES HYMAN, JAMES HYMAN GALLERY, LONDON

Peter Fetterman Gallery from Santa Monica, California sold a large format print of an iceberg by Sebastićo Salgado for $50,000. “We travelled 6000 miles to come here and arriving at Photo London has felt like coming home. Our gallery shows at eight fairs a year and none as well organized as this. We can’t wait for next year, already.” PETER FETTERMAN, PETER FETTERMAN GALLERY, SANTA MONICA

La Galerie Particuličre from Paris, one of 10 dealers from France, presented a solo show of American photographer, Todd Hido and sold one of his iconic prints for £14,000. “We are very happy with Photo London. The fair reached its objectives: quality of collectors, booths, and attendance. Todd Hido’s solo show is a great success”. GUILLAUME FOUCHER, LA GALERIE PARTICULIČRE, PARIS

“For the first year, it is as incredible and exciting fair. We met new clients and major curators and the setting is spectacular. Photo London has a big future.” THOMAS ZANDER, GALERIE THMOAS ZANDER, COLOGNE

Rose Gallery from California, one of 10 dealers from the United States, sold 6 untitled prints by William Eggleston; a blue car for £61,000, roses for £36,000 and 4 black and white prints for £16,000 each. “This was one of the best fairs in terms of quality of work presented and use of space. It feels so fresh and intimate and focused compared to the large white cube format of most fairs. The quality of attendees was exceptional and the whole programme was well thought out”. ROSE SHOSHANA, ROSE GALLERY, SANTA MONICA

Other notable sales at Photo London:

Caroline Smulders (Paris) sold Edie Sedgwick photomaton portrait, 1966, by Gerard Malanga for £6,000, putting it out-of-print.

Danziger Gallery (New York) sold one of two Susan Derges pieces acquired at the Fair, Passage, 2010, for US $30,600, as well as Christopher Bucklow’s Tetrarch, 2009, for US $22,000.

Eric Franck Fine Art (London) sold a vintage print, The Art of Travel taken by Norman Parkinson in 1951 for British Vogue at £6,000.

Robert Morat Gallery (Berlin, Hamburg) sold 64 prints of various plants by Robert Voit on the first day of the fair, each priced at £1,700.

Roman Road (London), part of Photo London’s Discovery section of emerging galleries, sold Grandma Thug, 2014 for £10,000 and Guns Love, 2014 for £4,000, both by Thomas Mailaender

Sohei Nishino sold all 1,000 prints of Diorama Map London, 2014, part of his Cities series. Each measures 10 x 16 cm and £250 for a set of 10 prints.

Photo London was the catalyst for a city-wide photo week which saw V&A, Tate, National Portrait Gallery, Science Museum, Museum of London, White Chapel Gallery, Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Phillips and galleries across the city present a simultaneous focus on photography.

On Wednesday 20 May, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson officially opened Photo London at an evening reception for VIP guests. Among the well-known names who attended Photo London were Daniel Craig, actor; Lily Allen, musician; Bianca Jagger, social and human rights advocate, actress; Ellen & Dan Shapiro, collectors; Gregor Muir, Director of the ICA; Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Director of The Serpentine; collectors; Maja Hoffmann, collector; Maria Sukkar, collector; Martin Roth, Director of the V&A; Matthew Slotover, Founder of Frieze; Sir Nicholas Serota, Director of Tate museums; Chris Dercon, Director of Tate Britain; Stephen Deuchar, Director of the Art Fund; Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery; Nick Rhodes, musician; Sandy Nairne, former Director of the National Portrait Gallery; Simon Schama, Art Historian; Valeria Napoleone, collector; Victoria Siddall, Director of Frieze; Brett Rogers, OBE, Director of Photographer’s Gallery; Iwona Blazwick, Director of Whitechapel Gallery; Janet Street-Porter, Commentator; Sir Andrew Motion, former poet laureate; Marin Karmitz, collector and film producer.

Photo London presented three inaugural photography awards at a ceremony on Thursday 21 May. Sebastićo Salgado received Photo London’s first Master of Photography Award. Daisuke Yokota, represented by G/P Gallery, Tokyo received the first John Kobal Residency Award for outstanding emerging artist, including a two-month residency in New York. Ten recently-graduated photographers were announced as winners of the first Graduate Photographers Award in association with Magnum Photos: Sebastian Bruno, Jack Carvosso, Sophie Green, Robin Lambert, Henna Mattila, Harry Mitchell, Milo Newman, Kate Nolan, Sunil Shah and Miriam Stanke.

The dates for Photo London 2016 are confirmed for 19 to 22 May 2016 at Somerset House. Preview day is Wednesday 18 May.