Belmond is proud to be Presenting Partner of Photo London 2024, a continuation of last year’s partnership that saw the exhibition Fotografía Maroma. This year’s partnership reflects the brand’s ongoing commitment to contemporary travel photography – the most notable example to date being the global Belmond Legends campaign, which saw original commissions from artists including Durimel, Coco Capitán, Jack Davison, Jeano Edwards, Letizia Le Fur, François Halard, Rosie Marks, Chris Rhodes and Thomas Rousset.
Photo London 2024 sees Belmond evolve the brand’s commitment to photography into an ongoing initiative with the announcement of the Belmond Photographic Residency – an annual jury-led award supporting emerging photographic talent. To mark the occasion, Belmond is also launching a series of limited-edition art books created in partnership with artists from the Belmond Legends campaign.
Featuring photographers Coco Capitán, Rosie Marks and Letizia Le Fur, the books are being produced by renowned Parisian art publishers RVB Books and consider new perspectives of travel and culture; exploring ideas beyond the traditional documentation of places. An associated exhibition will translate the artists’ respective books into an exhibition experience that captures their distinctive points of view, featuring never-before-seen work.
From art books to exhibition to Residency, each component of Belmond’s activities this year reflects a deep belief in and commitment to the art of travel. Through these ongoing exchanges with artists, the brand seeks to highlight the power of adventure – experiences that can inspire, challenge and leave a lasting impact on each of us.
BELMOND PHOTOGRAPHIC RESIDENCY
The Belmond Photographic Residency extends the brand’s focus on contemporary photography into a meaningful commitment to an emerging generation of photographic talent. It will become the mainstay of Belmond’s annual cultural calendar, giving rise to a new book and exhibition for each year’s winner.
The Residency is awarded to artists whose creative vision reflects a contemporary perspective of travel photography and who exhibit a distinctive artistic language. The measure of success will reflect different photographic themes (such as aesthetic, subject or composition) to be defined by a global jury of experts (yet to be announced). The work submitted will demonstrate a singularly artistic point of view on a destination.
The residency is open to all nationalities and ages, with the requirement being that the talent is not yet or has not been represented by an agent or gallery. The jury will focus on supporting future perspectives of travel photography and visionary artistic talent.
AWARD AND PROCESS
The Residency will offer the winner:
- A financial award
- An all expenses covered residency at a Belmond location
- A publication in partnership with RVB Books
- A showcase in a global city
- Mentorship from Belmond’s global network of photographic experts
- Runner-up prizes to be announced
Candidates will be sourced from both jury-nominated and open call submissions. Specialists and experts in the field of photography will be invited to select a small number of photographers from their own region, as well as an open call submission partnership with leading global photographic institutions. Artists will be invited to submit either a new or existing body of work – the specific details of which are to be announced at Photo London. Further application information to be shared in due course.
PHOTO LONDON EXHIBITION
Belmond will be Photo London’s lead sponsor this year, taking over the second largest gallery space at Somerset House: the Portico Rooms. This space will present three new photographic books from photographers Coco Capitán, Rosie Marks and Letizia Le Fur, combining their unique perspective on Belmond destinations with personal work exploring contemporary travel photography.
This new body of work has been shot at three diverse locations: Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town (Rosie Marks), the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express in Europe (Coco Capitán) and the hotel Caruso on Italy’s Amalfi Coast (Letizia Le Fur). Alongside the books, Belmond is working with creative director Dani Matthews (Paris-based agency 20xx) to curate the exhibition featuring artwork from the books. In the year that Valérie Belin takes the prestigious Master of Photography position at Photo London, Belmond is proud to present a creative endeavour led by and celebrating female creatives.
Each of the three artists’ expression and approach is unique, and the diversity of work reflects not only their singular lens, but their personal fascinations with travel and the Belmond destinations they document. These new commissions push us to collectively be open to the ever-evolving possibilities of artistic photography as a vehicle to share meaningful experiences of travel.
ART BOOKS
The three books launched at Photo London mark the start of an ongoing collectible art book series, which will define Belmond’s annual publishing calendar. Working with renowned Parisian art publishers RVB Books, each edition presents a singular interpretation of a Belmond destination. This series of independent publications is being led by RVB Books in collaboration with the photographer and creative director Dani Matthews (Paris-based agency 20xx). The books are available for sale through RVB Books international distribution network of premium bookstores and galleries, as well as online.
We hope this news is of interest to you and kindly find the press release attached. The hi-res images are available for download at the following link here. Please feel free to let us know should you require further information and we will be delighted to assist accordingly.
