Burberry announces major new photography show on British life

Here We Are — The exhibition, dedicated to the ‘British way of life and character’, will open in London next month.

A new photography exhibition dedicated to the ‘British way of life and character’ is set to open in London next month.

The Burberry-hosted show, titled Here We Are, will feature work from the most celebrated photographers of the last century. It will include work from Martin Parr, Dafydd Jones, Janette Beckman and Bill Brandt, as well as never-before-seen shots from Shirley Baker and Ken Russell.

Here We Are will be curated by Burberry’s Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey, and will run at the fashion house’s new Clerkenwell show venue, Old Sessions House.

Photography Dafydd Jones

“When we started thinking about curating Here We Are, I knew I wanted it to celebrate a certain strand of British photography that I have always loved – one which documents the many and varied tribes and clans and classes that make up this island of ours,” Bailey said in a statement. “It has been an extraordinary privilege to gather together this collection of photographs, that have influenced me so much over the years.”

Bailey will be co-curating the show with British photographer Alasdair McLellan and Lucy Kumara Moore – the director behind cult London bookshop Claire de Rouen.

“(The photos) provide a portrait of British life, in all its nuances, both exceptional and mundane, beautiful and harsh,” Bailey added. “Together they will form an exhibition in our new show space, celebrating a very British way of life and way of dressing.”