The London Salon

London Salon

Last Friday I visited The London Salon of Photography Exhibition. If you are a bit vague about what a salon is then this beginners guide is a good place to start. Essentially it is an open competition usually organised by a photography club, that is followed by an exhibition of the photographs that have been ‘accepted’. The London Salon is one of the most prestigious, with thousands of entries, and about one hundred and seventy acceptances, including nine salon medals.

The nine medal winners can be seen here.

Why Visit the Exhibition

For me, it is interesting to pick up the trends on how judges are interpreting the entries. What type of genre is on the way up? What type of images are they looking for? What is missing?. What is emerging and what the trends are.

What are the Trends.

This is my unscientific analysis of what is up and what is down.

Of the one hundred and seventy acceptances, over half are monochrome.
The colour images are usually heavily desaturated. There is a move to just include a hint of colour.
Nearly half feature people either individually or in groups. Most seem posed rather than candid. There is some street photography.
There are more fantasy images than one might expect.
There is a little wildlife. Probably about half a dozen.
There are a few traditional travel pictures again about half a dozen.
The traditional landscape is completely missing. There are more urban than rural.
Abstract images are trending. Especially landscape which has been layered.
There is a definite minimalist trend. A monochrome park bench in a bleached landscape. A lone figure against a desaturated background. A black railing on a white background.

However, all the images are wonderful, I wish I had taken any one of them. Congratulations to all who managed to get accepted. I loved Heather Woodhams, Wayside Flowers which deservedly won a medal. Congratulations to my friend Cliff Harvey with Into the Light.