One of my favourite venues in London, Somerset House, is currently showing two interesting photography exhibitions - and they're both free of admission.
The first one is Jim Lee: Arrested, an exhibition showcasing the work of fashion photographer and film maker Jim Lee. I did find the exhibition a bit funny and Lee's work a product of his time (even cosidering the fact that the exhibition has new work as well, and not only work from Lee's days of glory in the 1960's and 1970's), but that's maybe also what I liked about it. I'm a sucker for fashion from different eras (the 1960's being one of my favourites) and I love looking at the clothes in old pictures (be it fashion or not), because I think that only by looking at the clothes people are wearing, you can read so much into that era.
The other photography exhibition, Gideon Mendel: Drowning World, has a more serious subject matter. It showcases Mendel's global photography project about Flooding. He has shot portraits of flood victims, standing in the landscape of their personal misfortune. You see images of people, all around the world, standing in what used to be their livingroom or street, with water up to their knees - or even necks. Sometimes I'm very happy to be from Finland, it might be bloody cold and dark in the winter, but we don't have (that bad) floods, earth quakes, tsunamis etc.
While you're at Somerset House, they also have an exhibition with the art of the Japanese tattoo artist Horiyoshi III and one dedicated to the work of designer Wendy Ramshaw and the Courtauld Gallery in the same building is also always well worth a visit. Oh, and the bookshop's quite nice, as well as the cafés. And during the winter, there's always the ice rink...as I said, I like Somerset House!
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