Top photography exhibitions in London

Hélène Binet documents the history of buildings, whether that's an eighteenth century church, a 1970s apartment block or a shiny new construction by Zaha Hadid (who Binet worked with extensively). Stark, minimal, austere photography.

£17. Royal Academy of Art. Oct 23-Jan 23 2022. More details here.

This retrospective looks back at 50 years of pioneering photographer Helen Levitt's street scenes, featuring images of everyday life throughout her native New York. Her aim was to capture the poetry of the often decrepit, poverty-ridden sides of her city, rather than pass judgement, remaining restlessly inquisitive throughout.

£5. The Photographers' Gallery. Until Feb 13 2022. More details here.

Nestor Siré and Steffen Köhn document the informal digital economy of Cuba, showing the way goods, medicines, and basic necessities are traded online in the country. It's a shocking, clever exposé of life in times of crisis. 

£5. The Photographers' Gallery. Until Jan 2022. More details here.

The V&A's showing off 50 of its most recent contemporary photography acquisitions, including works by Paul Graham, Susan Meiselas, Andy Sewell, Tereza Zelenková, Dafna Talmor, and Zanele Muholi.

Free. V&A. Nov 6-Nov 6 2022. More details here.

Intensely dramatic photographs of industry in Britain and elsewhere, all dramatic lighting and giant machines, by this pioneering late photographer (the father of documentarian Nick Broomfield, who has loaned most of the works for this show).

V&A. Nov 6-Nov 6 2022. More details here. 

Across two decades and six continents, this Ghanaian-British photographer has been a ceaseless chronicler of the world around him, especially the African diaspora. This lovingly assembled, in-depth show takes in Barnor's studio portraiture, lifestyle photography and hard hitting photojournalism.

At the Serpentine Gallery, May 19-Oct 24. Book here.

Why did a young photographer spend five years obsessively photographing a single street in west London, visiting it 27 times and taking 1,400 photos?