Photomonth East London

Photomonth is back and bubbling over with brilliant images celebrating photography in galleries and venues across East London. Since 2001 the festival has established itself to become widely recognised as a major international event – bringing innovation and inspiration through the Open Call for exhibitions and encouraging participation in the wide variety of events on offer.

This year Imagining the East End is a strong theme flowing through the festival with artists who are radically changing our ways of seeing and exhibitions revolutionising our perception of an area whose influence reaches far beyond its actuality.

Photomonth opens at the Cass Gallery with a specially curated show ARCHIVE: Imagining the East End inspired by the East End Archive, a collection of contemporary and historical work. The exhibition showcases a diverse range of photographers whose work relates to the East End of London. The East End is understood here as both a geographical location and an intangible space, a perpetually shifting frontier within the urban sprawl of London that is part real part imagined. As a reflection of this approach, the images range from documentary practice to works of the imagination and include work by Don McCullin, Tom Hunter, Jenny Matthews, Stephen Gill, David Hoffman, Susan Andrews, Steven Berkoff, Ian Farrant, Joy Gregory and Mike Seaborne. The exhibition also profiles other local historical archives including those at Autograph ABP, Bishopsgate Institute, Eastside Community Heritage: Hidden Histories, Hackney Archives, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Tower Hamlets History Library and Whitechapel Gallery.

ARCHIVE: Imagining the East End is curated by Sue Andrews and Mick Williamson and runs from 2 October to 2 November at the Cass Gallery, 59-63 Whitechapel High Street E1 7PF. Open Mon-Fri 12-7, Sat 12-5pm, Sun 12-4pm. www.eastendarchive.org

During October and November there will be a huge range of exhibitions and events produced by over 300 photographers whose energy and enthusiasm make photomonth east london a continuously enjoyable experience for everyone. Visit www.photomonth.org to find out more.