Huxley-Parlour Gallery is delighted to announce a collaborative exhibition with Osborne Samuel gallery to present and celebrate the enormous variety and influence of photography through the ages. Running 20 November - 23 December 2014, this major exhibition crosses both of these leading London galleries to showcase over 150 important photographs from the 19th century to the present day.

The exhibition displays a range of arresting and iconic imagery from all periods of this groundbreaking medium, including works by legendary photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, Horst P Horst, Walker Evans, Cecil Beaton, Robert Mapplethorpe, Lord Snowdon, Brassai, Bill Brandt, Man Ray, William Klein, Cecil Beaton, Bruce Davidson, Berenice Abbott, Margaret Bourke White and Edward Steichen.

Previously unseen works by newly discovered American street photographer Vivian Maier will be showcased for the first time. During her work as a nanny, Maier took more than 150,000 photographs of the people and architecture of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. She recorded some of the most interesting marvels and peculiarities of urban America in the late 20th century.

Also presented is a rare and unusual group of exploration photographs, including the work of travel photography pioneer Herbert Ponting, who produced some of the most enduring images of the Heroic Age Antarctic Exploration, as well as Frank Hurley’sphotographs of the Shackleton Expedition. Featured alongside these are original, rareNASA photographs from seminal space missions.

The exhibition displays significant works by mid-20th century French masters such asWilly Ronis, Brassai, Robert Doisneau and Henri Cartier-Bresson, whose focus on capturing the “decisive moment” exemplifies the innovation of this influential period of photography.

Contemporary photographs include those with a particular focus on the natural world, with photographers including Edward Burtynsky, Michael Wolf, Alex Maclean andJustine Blau examining mankind’s impact on the landscape. Powerful works by important contemporary practitioners Ruud van Empel, Susan Derges, Julie Blackmon, Nadav Kander and Mona Kuhn are also presented.

The exhibition is a rare opportunity to see old masters of the medium and contemporary leaders featured side by side, raising some unexpected and interesting comparisons, such as Edouard Baldus’ architectural survey of 19th century Paris against the ultra modern multiple exposure city-scapes of Michael Najjar. Equally as intriguing is the juxtaposition of Laura Letinsky’s unique colour still life collages and the masterful still life works of Edward Weston and Irving Penn.