Photo London, that huge photography exhibition, is back and bigger than ever

The major photography fair is back for another year. Here are three reasons why you have to go

1 It’s got all the big galleries

There are 111 of the best art and photography galleries from 18 different countries coming together for this major photography fair. Can’t afford to go see the Hans P Kraus Jr gallery in New York? Can’t be bothered to go see the Olivier Castaing gallery in Paris? Don’t stress, they’re all going to be in Somerset House alongside the usual big hitters such as White Cube and The Photographers’ Gallery. See it as a chance to see all the grandest, fanciest galleries on earth in one go, or like travelling around the world to look at photography, only you can still go to a Wetherspoons after.

Barbara Cole, 'Kew At Night', Courtesy BauXiPhoto

2 It’s got all the big artists

Get ready to spoil your peepers with rare and even iconic works by the likes of Dennis Hopper, Sebastião Salgado, Guy Bourdin and Barbara Cole. And, seeing as it’s a fair, it’s almost all for sale. Can you afford anything? Probably not, but it’s definitely worth trying to haggle the gallerists down to a tenner.

Alison Jackson, 'Trump selfie with selfiestick with Miss Kenya, Miss Syria, Miss Mexico', Courtesy Raffaella De Chirico

3 It’s not just a fair

It’s not just photography for sale at Photo London, it’s also talks about photography, and special fancy installations of photography. Es Devlin, Darren Almond and Joel Meyerowitz are giving talks, and there will be special displays of rare nineteenth-century photography and an installation of more than 5,000 images from the International Centre of Photography’s collection. Another big draw is this year’s ‘Master of Photography’, the big daddy of big photos, Edward Burtynsky. Expect a massive installation of his massive art. Snappy.

Photo London is at Somerset House from May 17-20. Click here for tickets.