The Photographers' Gallery has moved to Ramillies Street, near Oxford Circus
Among the frenzy of shoppers busily foraging London’s Oxford Street, few would register Ramillies Street.
Barely noticeable between the big name high street stores enclosing it, the tiny alley leads to the new location of the Photographers’ Gallery, the snappers’ haven which moved to impressive new premises there last Friday. Pristine and full of visitors, the move has clearly been a smooth one.
“I think whether it’s in your personal life or professionally, moving can be stressful,” reflects the gallery’s Sam Trenerry, sitting in the new café on the first floor of the building. “But it’s been a real success.”
The bookshop on the first floor of the building is widely recognised as one of the best art literature sources in the country. Courtesy The Photographers' Gallery
A press day to which members, patrons and neighbours of the gallery were invited earned “magnanimous” praise for the new building, a response which the switch deserves. High ceilings and gushing daylight gives the four-storey gallery a relaxed and spacious feel, uniting café, bookshop and galleries under one roof for the first time.
Leaving their former home at Great Newport Street, a converted tea bar the gallery had been at since it was founded in 1971, was both vital and a wrench. “It was cramped, it was dark and it was on two sites either side of an arts theatre,” says Trenerry.
“It was a lovely location and it was wonderful to be there so long, but we had to move and we had to expand. It’s been so nice because people were really worried about losing what we had.”
A popular cafe welcomes visitors to the bookshop. Courtesy The Photographers' Gallery
Staff at the bookshop – some of whom have been there for almost a decade – are experiencing brisk sales on their fourth day of trading. On the same floor, Billy the café manager is also enjoying himself, having merited a mention in promotional literature surrounding the move after 20 years of culinary expertise at the old site.
“I think it’s gone really well,” he says, fanbase in tow. “People used to love the new café and there was a good atmosphere, so we’ve brought our old customers over here as well.”
One of those, Richard Dawkins, is suitably impressed. “I think it has an almost French design,” he observes. He thinks the old gallery, which he used to visit “about twice a week”, had more of a New York set up. “That wasn’t very uplifting,” adds the professional photographer. “This one is very user-friendly, which is important because people in photography tend to be a friendly group."
The site has a permanent gallery on one floor for the first time. Courtesy The Photographers' Gallery
An obvious benefit of the move lies in finally having a space exclusively for exhibitions, kicking off with Katy Grennan’s The Westerns on the third floor. Occasionally startling pictures of a mercurial femme fatale and two middle-aged transsexuals donning poses which, it must be said, are frequently entertaining, Grennan’s work guarantees a memorable opening show.
“She’s a contemporary American photographer and she’s really pushing the medium,” explains Trenerry. “It’s very traditional in that it’s beautiful portraiture and landscapes, but then you have that other level in the characters that she photographs and her thoughts and reasons behind it.”
The excellent Soho Nights exhibition on the ground floor, charting some of the characters of Soho’s colourful and glamorous history, is poignant given the gallery’s move across the district, yet the relocation is only a fraction of their future plans.
The ground floor of the new site houses reception and a smaller first gallery
In 2010 planners will demolish the current building and create a state-of-the-art gallery, for which more than half of the funding needed is already in place. Having taken “a stepping stone in the right direction,” Trenerry points to a computer simulation of the new building on one of the café screens.
“It will be amazing,” she predicts, impressed with designs by Irish architects O’Donnell and Tuomey. “They sat down with every member of staff, which is really nice compared to architects who just come in and say ‘this is my vision’. It’ll be almost like a periscope, with a really high top floor gallery.”
If the success of their first move is anything to go by, that will be worth a trip.
The Photographers' Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London, W1. Open Tues, Weds, Sat, Sun, 11am-6pm; Thurs & Fri, 11am-8pm. Admission free. Call 0845 262 1618 or visit www.photonet.org.uk
