There's an unparalleled selection of photography in all its varieties on display in London. These wonderful photography galleries are the best places to view the works, and if you get especially attached, buy them.
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The ’80s were heavy times for London’s LGBTQ+ community. The Aids crisis, reproductive rights activism and fighting back against Section 28 – a Conservative law which banned the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools – were live issues, and LGBTQ+ people were regularly abused in the media and the street. So thank goodness for photographers Jill Posener, Tessa Boffin and Ingrid Pollard.
Photograph: Jill Posener, ‘Dalston, London’, 1979. Courtesy of the artist
These three women documented the lives of lesbian Londoners in the ’80s and early ’90s, putting forward a positive alternative that celebrated queer female identity. Their images touch on the homophobic representation of LGBTQ+ people in the press, gender expression and the ways in which queer women made themselves visible – from cabaret and theatre to activist book fairs, clubs and graffiti.
Photograph: Tessa Boffin, ‘Angelic Rebels: Lesbians and Safer Sex’, 1989. Courtesy of the estate of Tessa Boffin/ Battersea Arts Centre Archive, Wandsworth Heritage Service
Work by the three women features in ‘Hot Moment’, a new free exhibition at Bethnal Green’s Auto Italia gallery. All the images on display were captured around the city at a time of great struggle for the LGBTQ+ community, and they’re still essential viewing today. Get down there in a hot second.
Photograph: Ingrid Pollard, ‘Performance outside The Fridge, Brixton’, c.1990. Courtesy of the artist
'Hot Moment' is at Auto Italia until March 14.
