The 8 best photography exhibitions coming to London in 2026

We might only be a couple of weeks into the new year, but 2026 is already looking like a stellar vintage for London’s arts and culture scene, with major new venues on the horizon – including the new London Museum, the opening of V&A East and a permanent home for the Museum of Youth Culture – and some fabulous art shows and museum exhibitions to look forward to. 

And if you haven’t already filled up your diary for the next few months, we’ve got even more unmissable culture for you in the form of some eye-catching photography exhibitions. Make the most of ‘planuary’ by organising your upcoming excursions to these shows encompassing everything from snapshots of queer communities and American urban life to cutting-edge wildlife and fashion photography. 

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The 8 best photography exhibitions coming to London in 2026

1. ‘Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography’ at Tate Modern

When the camera was first invented, it was a wonder of science, able to capture images with an accuracy that had never been seen before. But soon, instead of being seen as a rival to painters and sculptors, photographers began to join them as artists, interested in all the creative possibilities of this new method of image making. Tate Modern’s autumn opening explores how art photography emerged as a discipline between the 1880s and 1960s, taking an international approach that spans places from Shanghai to Sydney, New York to Cape Town, and Brazil to Singapore.

Tate Modern. Oct 14-Feb 21 2027. More details here. 

2. ‘Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography’ at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Dulwich Picture Gallery’s big summer exhibition will be an intriguing contrast with the pastoral landscapes found in its permanent collection. Portrait of a City is all about American urban life, as documented by photographers between 1907 and 2012. It'll offer a fascinating insight into how big cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco grew from low-rise communities into towering assemblages of skyscrapers and multi-lane traffic. Photos from big names including Diane Arbus, Lewis Hine and Dorothea Lange will chart the faces and sights of cities in flux.

Dulwich Picture Gallery. More details here. 

3. Nan Goldin: ‘The Ballad of Sexual Dependency’ at Gagosian

American icon Nan Goldin’s seminal photography series goes on display in full for the first time ever in the UK to mark the 40th anniversary of its publication as a photobook. Featuring 123 photographs shot between 1973 and 1986, it’s an intimate, wistful portrait of Goldin’s downtown NYC community – including pop culture icons like Cookie Mueller and Greer Lankton – shot in the saturated, moody hues that have become her signature.

Gagosian Davies St. Until Mar 21. Free. More details here.

4. Nhu Xuan Hua: ‘Of walking on fire’ at Autograph

French Vietnamese artist Nhu Xuan Hua will take over both of Autograph Gallery’s main spaces this spring with newly commissioned work at the intersection of art and fashion photography. It will draw on her Vietnamese parentage, reimagining her family photographs to explore the fragility of memory, and what's lost between generations

Autograph. Apr 16-Sep19. Free. More details here. 

5. Catherine Opie: ‘To Be Seen’ at the National Portrait Gallery

The Portrait Gallery builds on its brilliant programming in 2025 with the first major UK exhibition on Catherine Opie, the American photographer best known for her stylised, painterly portraits of queer communities. It’ll span the Ohio-born artist’s three-decade career, from her first major series ‘Being and Having’ (1991) to later photographs of children, surfers, high school footballers, political crowds and self-portraits.

National Portrait Gallery. Mar 5-May 31. £19.50. More details here.

6. ‘Water Pantanal Fire’ at the Science Museum

The Science Museum’s free springtime photography exhibition will illustrate the beauty and fragility of the world’s largest wetland, the Pantanal, which sprawls across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. Over 60 images, captured by two of Brazil’s leading documentary photographers, will feature, introducing visitors to the area’s amazing biodiversity with photographs of jaguars, howler monkeys, caiman and marsh deer, while also documenting the ravages of wildfires and deforestation. 

Science Museum. Feb 6-May 31. Free. More details here. 

7. ‘We Others’: Donna Gottschalk and Hélène Giannecchini at The Photographers’ Gallery

Get a glimpse of the hidden lives of queer people in midcentury New York at this intimate exhibition. Before homosexuality was legalised, Donna Gottschalk photographed the people she described as ‘brave and defiant warriors’ for daring to live openly as themselves, and take part in the emerging lesbian, trans and gay rights movements. 

The Photographers’ Gallery. Mar 6-Jun 7. £8.50. More details here. 

8. Tim Walker’s ‘Fairyland: Love and Legends’ at the National Portrait Gallery

The Portrait Gallery collaborates with another huge name in contemporary photography for its autumn exhibition. Best known for his eye-popping, fantastical fashion photography for titles including British Vogue, i-D, W, Vanity Fair and Another Man, British photographer Tim Walker has spent the past five years photographing the nation’s LGBTQ+ trailblazers in preparation for this major exhibition, his first show in London since the V&A’s acclaimed one in 2019.

National Portrait Gallery. Oct 8-Jan 31 2027. More details here.