From Zanele Muholi in London to Tyler Mitchell in Berlin, we round up some of the most exciting international shows coming up in the next 12 months
© International Center of Photography. Courtesy of Galerie BerinsonWEEGEE, AUTOPSY OF THE SPECTACLE, FONDATION HCB, PARIS
© Kelli Connell. Courtesy of the artist KELLI CONNELL, PICTURES FOR CHARIS, CCP, TUCSON
Kelli Connell’s remarkable reimagining of the life of Charis Wilson, the wife and muse of the renowned American photographer Edward Weston, will kick off at Tucson’s Center for Creative Photography, where the pair’s respective archives reside. Tracing Connell’s travels with her own partner to the Californian spots Wilson and Weston lived and made work together in the 1930s and 40s, this touring exhibition will combine photography and prose to unpack the fraught photographer-sitter dynamic through a queer and feminist lens. Keep your eyes peeled for the accompanying Aperture book too.
Pictures for Charis runs at Center for Creative Photography, Tucson from February 17 – August 10 2024.
© The Irving Penn Foundation. Courtesy of de Young MuseumIRVING PENN, DE YOUNG, SAN FRANCISCO
Few photographers in the post-war period elevated fashion photography to such high levels of aesthetic ambition as Irving Penn, the record-holder for shooting the most Vogue covers. That said, what made Penn so remarkable is the way he fluidly moved between classical and casual photography, working in the most traditional genres – still life, portraiture, fashion and nudes – and yet allowing signals to cross. This promising exhibition at San Francisco’s de Young will span the range of Penn’s seven-decade-long career, drawing canny connections between diversely motivated images. A highlight will be the section dedicated to 1967’s “Summer of Love”, where Penn lensed bands, bikers and hippies with the same grandeur as he lensed Audrey Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich. Iconic.
Irving Pennruns at de Young, San Francisco from March 16 – July 21 2024.
© Julia Margaret Cameron. Courtesy of National Portrait GalleryFRANCESCA WOODMAN AND JULIA MARGARET CAMERON, NPG, LONDON
Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron, two of photography’s most celebrated women, will whisper through the walls at the National Portrait Gallery this spring. Their joint presentation promises to be a dreamy affair, teasing out new stories through a selection of rare vintage prints. Though Woodman and Cameron lived one century apart, both shared a deep and ethereal spirituality – their gazes flickering for brief moments before being buried by the weight of the world.
Portraits to Dream In runs at National Portrait Gallery, London from March 21 – June 16 2024.
© Tyler Mitchell. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman GalleryTYLER MITCHELL, C/O BERLIN
Revel in the spellbinding universe of Tyler Mitchell at his first solo show in Germany. Bringing together photography, fabric and sculpture, it will present dazzling narratives about Black beauty and desire, embracing themes of the past while creating fictionalised moments of the imagined future. Mitchell’s star keeps on rising.
Tyler Mitchell runs at C/O Berlin from June 1 – September 5 2024.
© Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of the artist and TateZANELE MUHOLI, TATE MODERN, LONDON
We were all totally enthralled by Zanele Muholi’s Tate solo in 2020, so this part-two is certainly something to get excited about. Consisting of 260 images, it will see the South African power punch themself through the Tate once again, employing photography as a tool for self-fashioning, robust advocacy and care. Muholi’s images are exquisite in every way.
Zanele Muholi runs at Tate Modern, London from June 6 2024 – January 26 2025.
© Thomas Mailaender. Courtesy of the artist and MEPTHOMAS MAILAENDER, LES BELLES IMAGES, MEP, PARIS
While Paris will be playing host to the Olympic Games this summer, Thomas Maileander will be running riot throughout the MEP’s main halls. Featuring a live chicken museum, lava, a silver woman and a whole load of beautiful images, this exhibition is tipped to be a real crowd-pleaser. Maileander is a totally ingenious artist-slash-joker with a bunch of tricks up his sleeve, and it’s wonderful to see him getting his dues in an instituional setting.
Les belles images runs at MEP, Paris from June 12 – September 29 2024.
© Mo Yi. Courtesy of the artistMO YI, UCCA, BEIJING
As far as discoveries go, this survey of Mo Yi, the Chinese footballer-turned-photographer, is set to be standout. Accompanied by a yellow Thames & Hudson tome, the exhibition will incorporate Mo’s hand-made books, collages and original contact sheets alongside photography from the 1980s and 90s in an attempt to position this imaginative artist within the history of photography and Chinese experimental art. Taken rapidly like a machine gun, with the camera behind his neck or from a stick at “dogs-eye” view, Mo’s street photography is unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
Mo Yi runs at UCCA, Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing from September 28 – December 29 2024.
© Sophie Calle. Courtesy of the artist and Fraenkel GallerySOPHIE CALLE, OVERSHARE, WALKER ART CENTER, MINNEAPOLIS
Who better to hold up a mirror to our social media times than Sophie Calle? The famed French conceptualist has long had a fascination with other people’s lives, religiously investigating the public exposure of private experience across her five-decades of work. This major exhibition – slated to be Calle’s biggest and best in the US – will weave together threads of attachment, trust and disclosure in thought-provoking fashion. Expect to stagger out with the urge to share. Is it, after all, what makes us human.
Overshare runs at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis from October 19 2024 – January 26 2025.
© Maya Rochat. Courtesy of the artist and Photo ElyséeMAYA ROCHAT, PHOTO ELYSÉE, LAUSANNE
Maya Rochat really knows how to mesmerise an audience. Probing the possibilities of photography as a medium of both liquid and light, her exhibitions could be compared to the psychedelic liquid light shows that emerged in the early 1960s. This wintery spectacle in the charming Swiss city of Lausanne will see the native artist take on the theme of water, transforming it into something which embodies meaning, power and emotion. Bring it on!
Maya Rochat runs at Photo Elysée, Lausanne from November 1 2024 – January 12 2025.