JOSEPH MCKENZIE

The London Art Fair                                                                            22 - 26 January 2025                                                          Business Design Centre, Islington.

The Joseph McKenzie Archive, working in partnership with Studies in Photography, is excited to announce that we will be displaying original work at The London Art Fair. Originating from Hoxton in London it will be an opportunity to welcome Joseph McKenzie home and enjoy some exceptionally fine work produced through his long and committed career.

Studies in Photography, based in Edinburgh, focuses on the promotion of Scottish photography. It produces a biannual publication which has gained an international reputation. The work of Joseph McKenzie will feature in the Winter 2024 edition. 

Scotland has a long, and well-established tradition in the discovery and growth of photography. Joseph McKenzie was instrumental in establishing a department of photography in Scotland in 1964, at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, and was one of the earliest photography teaching establishments in Scotland. Joseph McKenzie has since become one of the most important post-war photographers and was a pioneer in the struggle to achieve recognition for photography as 'Fine Art' in Britain, which it finally achieved in the 1970's. In the 1990's Joseph McKenzie agreed and supported for his archive to be the mainstay of a project to open a Centre for Scottish Photography in Edinburgh with its patron the renowned actor, Sean Connery. Sadly, the ambitious project fell by the wayside due to political issues.

It is therefore exciting to once again be working with a Scottish based art establishment with the common ambition to bring Scottish photography to the forefront.  

The diverse and unique work of Joseph McKenzie has always been admired and we will be displaying an interesting collection of work, including early works of London and his time establishing and teaching photography at St Martins School of Art (1954-1963), where his teaching career begun.

We look forward to building on our working relationship with Studies in Photography with a Joseph McKenzie exhibition planned at their gallery at 6 William Street in Edinburgh's West End and expected to run for the month of March, 2025. Further collaborations are planned for Photo London in May, and we are currently exploring possibilities for Photo Paris.