8 Must See Photography Exhibitions in 2016

There’s some very exciting photography exhibitions happening this year and here are eight that have caught my eye…

1. Saul Leiter: Retrospective, Photographer’s gallery, 22nd January – 3rd April 2016

Quite possibly the exhibition I’m most excited about see. Saul Leiter was a stunning photographer, taking mesmerising images right up until his recent death in 2013. He’s a big inspiration on my own photography and a true pioneer of ‘seeing things different’.

A retrospective of the highly influential American photographer Paul Strand. This is the first UK exhibition to celebrate Strand’s work since his death in 1976, which make this a real must-see exhibition.

3. Gathered Leaves: Photographs by Alec Soth, National Media Museum, 22nd April – 26th June
Currently one of the biggest names in contemporary photography. I’ve been a big fan of Alec Soth’s work for while now. I can’t wait to see it in the flesh at his first UK solo show and to have it just down the road in Bradford is brilliant.

4. The Rhubarb Triangle and Other Stories: Photographs by Martin Parr, The Hepworth Wakefield, 4th February to 12th June
Arguably one of the UK’s best known photographers. Anything by Martin Parr is guaranteed to be well worth your time.

5. Women at war: Lee Miller, Imperial War Museum, on until 24th April
This extraordinary exhibition features unique wartime imagery, unlike any of the war images you may have seen in the past.

6. Wolfgang Tillmans pictures from New World, Gallery of Modern Art Glasgow
I never need much encouragement to venture into Scotland and being a massive Tillmans fan means it’s simply a matter of when. I have been a huge fan ever since I saw his work at the Turner Prize. He epitomises the idea of ‘seeing things different’ and continues to challenge our (and his) notion of photography.

7. Document Scotland, The Ties That Bind, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, on until 24th
Whatever you thought of the Scottish referendum, it was a unique and phenomenal moment in British politics. This exhibition reflects on the ideas of the Scottish identity at the time of political change.

8. Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers, Barbican, 16th March – 19th June
This intriguing exhibition, featuring previously unseen photographs, is curated by the aforementioned Martin Parr and features works by some of the biggest names in photography, ever.