Fujifilm Backs Groundbreaking Central London Solo Exhibition

A 34-year-old, award-winning Bournemouth portrait and documentary photographer is set to launch her first solo exhibition with a unique, powerful and highly personal series of images chronicling the last months of her mother's life.

Lauren Forster's groundbreaking show is entitled '‘God Has No Favourites' and runs from Monday, 18 February to Friday, 22 March at the Salvation Army Gallery, 101 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4.

Sponsored by Fujifilm, the exhibition images are outputted on the company's newly launched Crystal Archive Professional Maxima paper and printed and mounted by London-based lab Bayeux.

Commenting on the exhibition, Lauren said: "My mother was diagnosed with inoperable secondary brain cancer in 2016 but both my parents agreed that I should do my best to create a visual record that would capture the strength of the family unit in crisis. It’s the hardest and saddest thing I have ever done in my life but we all wanted it to be seen more as a celebration of her life. My photography enables me to explore things I don’t understand."

She added: "I wanted to create my first-ever exhibition around this story because, sadly, this is a subject many people can relate to. But the truth is I had no absolutely no experience at all of how to make it happen so when Fujifilm approached me with the idea for this project I was more than happy to be involved."

© Lauren Forster

Peter Wigington, marketing manager, Photo Imaging Group said: "This is a highly emotional and challenging subject but Lauren is a talented photographer and she was completely determined to follow through with her pledge to make this show happen.

We know that there are many photographers who would really love to exhibit their work but just don’t know where to start. So our idea was to write a series of articles following Lauren’s journey in choosing a subject and the appropriate images to exhibit; selecting the best media on which to output; deciding on the best framing and mounting options, getting advice and guidance on creating and signing limited editions and finally finding and negotiating a suitable venue."

A vital part of the learning curve for Lauren was the prolab input.

Nick Barnett digital technician at Bayeux said: "Presentation is vital if you want to be successful with an exhibition. We discussed frames and mounting options – some terrific images have been ruined by pairing them with the wrong frame. And media is key too. In this case, we are using Fujifilm’s latest Crystal Archive Maxima photo paper – it’s an exceptional new product, perfect for this work - with superb archival quality built-in."

He added: "Location is so important. The venue we all agreed on is The Salvation Army International HQ, - just a stone’s throw from St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium bridge. We met there with Lauren and went through all the challenges and options with regards to light and best use of space. This will be a terrific show – ambitious photographers who want to learn about how to put on an exhibition should drop by and see it. It runs for a month."

To find out what other exhibitions are opening over the next couple of months, visit our Exhibition Forum.