The World in London is a major public art project initiated by The Photographers’ Gallery, to coincide with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The project set out to commission 204 photographic portraits of 204 Londoners, each originating from one of the nations competing at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The portraits will be exhibited as large-scale posters at two sites close to Olympic venues: on the external wall surrounding the BT London Live site in Victoria Park in East London, and across a city-block in Central London covering the façade of the new Park House development in Oxford Street.
To ensure its legacy, The World in London project, comprising a full set of portrait prints, along with supporting materials in the form of video, oral history and written interviews, will be donated to the Museum of London where it will form a part of the museum’s permanent collection. Up until December 2012 when the donation will take place, The Photographers’ Gallery will continue its search for the final six sitters from the following Pacific countries: American Samoa, FS Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau. The World in London is an ambitious outdoor photography project for 2012, showing London’s diversity and photography’s unique role in capturing the human form. Over the past three years we have commissioned acclaimed and emerging British and international photographers to take portraits of Londoners of all ages and from all walks of life. Each portrait is unique in its composition, setting and style.
Coinciding with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, this project set out to bring together portraits of Londoners. The World in London celebrates London as a place where individuals from all parts of the world live side by side, each of them contributing to make London the unique city it is. All photographs will feature on the project’s website, launching on 27 July, which includes background stories on each of the participating Londoners.
The World in London
Victoria Park, London, E3: 27 July – 12 August 2012
Park House, 453 – 497 Oxford Street, London, W1: 27 July – 30 August 2012