Terence Donovan at The Photographers´ Gallery

Terence Donovan: Speed of Light, which opened at The Photographers' Gallery in London in the summer of 2016, was the first major retrospective of the British photographer's work. The exhibition presented Donovan (1936–1996) as one of the foremost photographers of his generation — a figure who rose to prominence in London as part of a post-war renaissance of the creative industries, and came to represent a new force in fashion, advertising, and portrait photography. A master craftsman commanding both the technical and the compositional, Donovan helped redefine studio photography while operating at the very heart of London's Swinging Sixties. Presented over two floors, the show was curated by photography historian Robin Muir in partnership with the Terence Donovan Archive and global technology company Ricoh, and incorporated a compelling mix of vintage material alongside previously unpublished works. The exhibition comprised classic and well-known vintage prints as well as previously unpublished material and a selection of his video works, with rare samples of ephemera, including magazine spreads, contact sheets, and the photographer's treasured cameras, also on display. Among more than 130 Donovan prints, curator Robin Muir devoted space to Donovan's final portfolio — a 1996 shoot for GQ magazine's Cool Britannia issue, featuring major music stars including Jarvis Cocker and Bryan Ferry, which had only been published posthumously after Donovan's sudden death in November of that year. The retrospective also coincided with the publication of a new book, Terence Donovan: Portraits, further cementing the renewed appreciation for his legacy twenty years after his death.