29 ARTS IN PROGRESS gallery is pleased to exhibit again at Photo London 2021 and presents a solo show of British photographer Rankin.

Showcasing Rankin’s picks of his favourite images – including those of his best known subjects and his more conceptual work, the exhibition is an archival look at his often outsider take on fashion photography and portraiture.
One of the world’s most influential fashion photographers, Rankin has often defined his place within the industry as one of being on the outside looking in.

In addition to some of his most iconic and unconventional portraits, the presentation includes images of Supermodels taken in the 1990s for Dazed & Confused, and bold fashion and beauty images from his magazine HUNGER.
The exhibition is also a conceptual take on the notions of beauty and mortality. Inspired by the often intertwined themes of death and sensuality in his work, the show explores Rankin’s editorial pieces to produce a multilayered discussion on light and darkness, hard and soft: these pieces take an intimate look at the dark side of desire from across Rankin’s career. Here, the act of seduction is so fierce a force of attraction as to take the viewer hostage.

Dodging that process of fetishization common to every exhibitionist phenomenon, the British artist uses his images to present a mirror which reflects the imagination whilst also providing a locus of capture between the viewer: he who looks and the subject who is being looked at. Here the seduction lies in a delayed gratification, the act of biding one’s time before crossing the threshold and facing a constructed world, a bombastic, energy-rich, instinctive world cloaked in violent colour.

These shots by Rankin hold an undeniable energetic charge. The images return our gaze, take on a power of their own, become autonomous.

Photo London 2021 will take place from 9 to 12 September with an invitation-only preview on Wednesday 8 September from 1 pm at Somerset House.

Visit us at booth G27, Courtyard Pavilion.