This summer, galleries across the world are presenting some of the most important photography of our times. From the vital, urgent photojournalism of the World Press Awards to the collection of Sir Elton John and David Furnish, which holds era-defining images from the 20th and 21st century. The Photographers’ Gallery presents the work of Sayuri Ichida, whose poetic staged works reflect on sibling relationships and how they shift and evolve over time. Other exhibitions take existing institutions and places and encourage audiences to view them in a different light. Photo North looks at the iconic architecture of Alvar and Aino Aalto through a new lens, spotlighting the work of Elina Brotherus and Lauri Astala. Elsewhere, Mexico City-based creative duo Lake Verea use experimental techniques to cast new light on Palm Springs.

An estimated 80% of people have at least one sibling. Sayuri Ichida: Playing the Piano Upstairs is a series centred on the artist’s relationship with her sister. Through luminous handcrafted prints, Sayuri Ichida reveals ideas of memory, grief and sisterhood against the snowy landscapes of rural Japan. After losing their mother in their late teens, the sisters gradually developed a fragile yet enduring closeness. Photogrpahy became a way of tracing the emotional evolution of their relationship. The quiet, atmospheric images see her sister appear alongside natural and sculptural forms. Set within the often snow-covered scenes of their hometown of Niigata, Japan, Ichida describes these works as “visual metaphors for memory itself; mutable, obscured, yet softly glowing just below the surface.” 

Women on Waves brings the architecture of homes designed by Alvo Aalto to life through fictional stories. Elina Brotherus brings works from several photo series to the AaltoSiilo exhibition, which she has taken in buildings designed by Alvar and Aino Aalto. Brotherus’ photographs allow audiences to sense the layers between different eras – stories and moods created by the relationship between people and space. Meanwhile, Lauri Astala’s video work Se voisi olla melkein kuka tahansa (2026), operates in two different timeframes and is based on photographs taken by Brotherus at Maison Louis Carré, Aalto’s only building in France. The rooms and views of the private home serve as stages for memories captured on film decades ago, which are paired with ghostly nocturnal wandering taking place in the present. 

Musician Sir Elton John began collecting photography in 1991. Today, with over 7,000 images, the private collection he shares with David Furnish is considered one of the largest in the world. Renowned for its exceptional quality, scope and remarkable depth, the collection spans the 20^th and 21^st centuries, including many works considered pivotal in the history of photography. Produced by London’s V&A, Fragile Beauty showcases over 300 prints, covering the period from 1950 to the present day, celebrating the work of over 90 international lens-based artists. The Paris show at Jeu de Paume offers a selection of images that tell the story of modern and contemporary photography, including work by Diane Arbus, Herb Ritts, Irving Penn, Nan Goldin, Richard Avedon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ryan McGinley and William Klein. 

Every year, World Press Photo acknowledges the photojournalists who capture the most pressing issues and moving moments of our contemporary time. The 2026 winners are the best of 57,376 photographs by 3,747 photographers from 141 countries entered in the 2026 Contest. Entries spanned Africa; Asia-Pacific and Oceania; Europe; North and Central America; South America; and West, Central, and South Asia, covering news moments, events and aftermaths, as well as social, political and environmental issues and solutions, alongside personal portraits of various strata of society. The show travels across the world, bringing these important photographs to an impressively wide audience, but it always begins at De Nieuwe Kerk. Visitors to the Amsterdam gallery have the chance to witness this year’s selection firsthand.

Since 2005, Mexico City-based duo Francisca Rivero-Lake and Carla Vere have collaborated as Lake Verea. The duo merge their identities as queer women with experimental photographic techniques to create intimate portraits of architecture. With DarkRooms and Other Games, they turn their lenses to Palm Springs icons, including Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann House and Albert Frey’s designs: Aluminaire House and Frey House II, capturing these homes under full moonlight to reveal moods and details invisible under the glare of the desert sun. Lake Verea’s patient, almost meditative process results in analogue photographs that transform familiar landmarks. Often appearing within their own images, the artists introduce moments of intimacy into the frame and consider elemental themes of light and darkness, joy and stillness.  

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Words: Emma Jacob

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Image Credits:

1. Lake Verea Us As Eyes, 2024 Series: DarkRooms: Frey House II.
2. Sayuri Ichida Phoka #027, 2025 Courtesy of the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery.
3. Piscine (Transat), 2018, from the series Les Femmes de la Maison Carré.
4. Ryan McGinley, Dakota Hair, [Coiffure du Dakota], 2004. © Ryan McGinley.
5. William Keo, La Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
6. Lake Verea Sit Back & Relax, 2025 Series: Kaufmann House Actions.