Photographer Lauren Forster's Solo Exhibition Is A Hit In London

It was the saddest, most challenging photo-shoot of her life but award-winning portrait photographer Lauren Forster channelled her personal pain into a super-charged project that’s now being witnessed by thousands of visitors to her first-ever solo exhibition in central London.

'God Has No Favourites' – a visual chronicle of the last months of her mother’s life, has launched to wide acclaim and will run until 22 March 2019 at the Salvation Army gallery, 101 Queen Victoria Street EC4 - close to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Commenting on the exhibition, Lauren said: "I was taken completely by surprise when Fujifilm offered to sponsor me for this exhibition launch, as the nature of this project is so personal. I had finished the body of work and the natural next step was to plan an exhibition, but I wasn’t entirely sure how to go about it - so I was really pleased that Fujifilm reached out to me."

She added: "Fujifilm decided to create a series of articles based around my work and focused on overcoming the challenges of getting an exhibition off the ground. The Bayeux prolab helped me with mounting and printing and encouraged me to print some of the images to a larger scale - as prints output on Fujifilm Professional MAXIMA paper looks superb. There have been many comments from visitors as to how good the prints look in this space. The initial private viewing was a truly memorable event that enabled my friends, family and people from the industry to engage with the work; the feedback has been fantastic. It was terrific to see the project come together and upon a gallery wall after so many months of planning.

The opening night itself was an amazing experience and it’s made me all-the-more determined to take things on from here and to put together more exhibitions in the future. There is no doubt it’s the perfect way to make sure that a project is seen in the way you intended."

Peter Wigington, marketing manager, Photo Imaging Group said: "The private viewing to launch this month-long show at the Salvation Army HQ proved a great success.

Many people have commented on the quality of the work and the aesthetics of the exhibition itself. Large numbers of photographers have dreams about exhibiting their work but actually making it happen can be a daunting experience - which is why we decided to follow Lauren and help her on this journey from the very first step to the launch itself. Her exhibition coincides with the launch of our Fujifilm Professional MAXIMA paper which has been specifically developed for the fine art sector and exhibition display so it was a natural choice to use it."

Bayeux prolab digital technician Nick Barnett added: "We went through Lauren’s files with her to see which images might work at the scale of A0, and there were a number of key shots chosen. The fact that Fujifilm had recently launched its Professional MAXIMA paper was a real bonus. This new material offers some real advantages, such as deeper blacks and higher contrast. It perfectly suited Lauren’s work and gave us a really strong set of prints for the show." 

Gallery curator Berni Georges commented: "The outstanding, high-quality images tell such a striking story of life, love and death. We were delighted with the support received from Fujifilm for the show and by the strong attendance on the opening evening. There’s huge value in an exhibition having an official launch to spread the word that it’s there - and the show has created a great response as evidenced by some poignant entries in the comments book."

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