In the Frame with Sophie Parker Sandra

WORDS: Bakul Patki

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“I’ve always been particular about my brows—even on shoots with incredible make-up artists, I’d insist on doing my own.”

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“Of course, I’m very grateful for the successes we have achieved, and yes, we can celebrate these milestones. But I’m always cautious – I never believe I have ‘arrived’. To me, one day you’re in and the next you could be out. You can’t rest on your laurels.”

“I say ‘work in progress’ a lot or ‘this too shall pass’. Also: ‘don’t forget to have fun’.”

What is your mantra?

“In the beginning, the biggest challenge was doing everything with a small team, but I truly believe it’s important to be hands-on to understand what your business really needs”

“A very old Hermès trench, which I got when I worked at the [brand’s] sample sale in the ’90s, plus a McQueen embroidered cape.”

What is your most treasured fashion item?

I remember the precise moment my understanding of what art could be changed. As a child, my mum used to take me to museums and galleries – it was one of our favourite things to do together. For many reasons, including that early exposure to art, my mum has been a huge inspiration to me. We would spend hours in the Manchester Art Gallery and at the Whitworth. Every year we would travel to Liverpool for the John Moores painting prize at The Walker and to visit Tate Liverpool. It was there that I first saw Cornelia Parker’s sculpture Cold Dark Matter, which was completely transformative. I met Sara Lucas at a gallery recently and was completely star struck. I lost the ability to speak. It was on one of those gallery visits with my mum that I first saw her piece Self Portrait with Fried Eggs. I thought it was the epitome of cool. I bought a postcard of that work that stayed on my wall throughout my childhood, adolescence and twenties. I still have it somewhere. I draw on all my past jobs to help me with my current one – even waitressing. My first long-term position was at Cristea Roberts Gallery. I worked on the gallery’s booth at art fairs. I learned that fairs can be great spaces for new audiences and artists to connect, and that galleries don’t always measure success solely on sales. That realisation was invaluable when I joined Photo London. As gallery development manager, I worked closely with our exhibitors and made a point of listening to what each needed. Building personal relationships with the galleries meant they were incredibly supportive when I was made director – and they also knew they had consistent support from me and the fair.

Be curious, be interested and be prepared to pivot. I’ve never been someone with a definitive career plan, and my advice would be don’t become too fixated on one path. There are so many jobs in the art world that people don’t know about and jobs that are art-world adjacent. What you think you want to do when you’re starting out isn’t always right for you – and it certainly isn’t the only thing you can do. Feel the fear and do it anyway. I get anxious, so this is something I think about a lot. Acknowledging discomfort – and that it will be temporary – has always helped me. Also, put yourself in other people’s shoes. I travel to a lot of other art fairs and have to introduce myself to people I don’t know. That can be really challenging, but I try to remember that most people are happy to talk about their work and tend to be flattered that you’re interested in what they do. There are some things you can never predict. Have faith you’ll find solutions to even the most unexpected challenges, and find the humour in them later. I’ve been at Photo London for eight years. Every edition is different, and each one has thrown different challenges at us, from fire alarms going off on preview day, to a swarm of wasps descending on site. But it’s never been anything we can’t handle – and those moments make for great stories to regale people with in the pub. I am immensely proud of what the Photo London team achieves. The fair comes and goes in just five days, but it’s the result of a year of hard work. I always encourage colleagues to find a moment to absorb what we’ve created together. I’m also proud of where I’ve got to. There were things in my life that could have sent me off along another, very different, path – including failing most of my A-levels first time around. But I stuck it out, took my time, adapted.

Our latest edition of In the Frame – which showcases inspiring women in the arts – shines a light on the director of Photo London, Sophie Parker. One of Europe’s youngest female art fair directors, she talks imposter syndrome, meeting your heroes, and the enduring power of photography

There are some things you can never predict. Have faith you’ll find solutions to even the most unexpected challenges, and find the humour in them later”

“Like a building, I understood the business’ foundations. Next, came the challenge of how high we could build it; how many more layers we could add.”

beginning professional life in the art world. In 2018, Parker joined Photo London – one of the most important photography fairs on the international circuit – rising to Associate Director three years later. In 2024, she was appointed Director, making her one of the youngest female fair directors in Europe. However confidently meteoric her rise sounds, Parker is the first to admit that she often suffered from imposter syndrome – she is living proof that her mantra “feel the fear and do it anyway” works. As Photo London moves to its new home at London’s Olympia exhibition hall, Parker shares some challenges of the job, the importance of staying nimble in your career options, and why the use of AI increasingly needs to be justified.

I want collectors to know that photography will only enhance their collections. Photography is such a broad and varied discipline, incorporating many other practices, and at Photo London we celebrate all forms – from the earliest examples of the medium to very contemporary works that can sometimes prompt people to ask: “Is it even a photograph?”. Photographers have always been at the forefront of technological advancement. As such, AI can be an interesting tool for them, but the decision to use it needs to be justified. I’m always ready to embrace new techniques when it comes to creativity. One of my favourite pieces in my own collection is by a brilliant artist called Masie Cousins, from her AI-generated series Walking Back To Happiness. It’s a fantastic example of AI being cleverly used as a tool to play with an existing practice. But there’s a lot of AI slop out there that’s hard to justify as we learn more about how terrible the process is for the environment, and how ethically dubious it can be.

One of my favourite musical collectives is The Multi-Story Orchestra who Abimaro, my sister, regularly collaborates with. They’re based in Peckham and often perform in the multistorey car park at [arts organisation] Bold Tendencies; they’re deeply rooted in community and working with local young people. They make beautiful music together – I’m always inspired by their performances. An artist I’m excited about right now is Halina Edwards. The rawness of her work is beautiful. I really admire what she’s doing with her practice, and I look forward to seeing what she does next. And I’m a big fan of Alvaro Barrington, who seems to be everywhere right now. I love the materiality of his work, and how it engages with wider culture. It’s also just very beautiful. A must-see show right now is Joy Gregory’s Catching Flies With Honey at Whitechapel Gallery. It’s the first major survey of one the UK’s most innovative photographers and is absolutely brilliant. I’m excited to see the new Beatriz Milhazes exhibition, Além do Horizonte at White Cube Mason’s Yard in Mayfair. Her paintings are so vibrant. Finally, I can’t wait to check out Nike and Palace’s new space Manor Place in South London. They’ve turned a Victorian bathhouse into a beautifully-designed skate park and football cage – and both are accessible for free. They’re also planning to house creative residencies in the building, which is something we definitely need more of.

It’s been hard holding on to my practice since becoming a mother. I think this is where I’ve most seen the impact of being a woman in the arts. My husband is the most amazing father to our children. He’s so involved and engaged, and puts an incredible amount of energy into them, so I would never undermine the part fathers play. But I think there’s something all-consuming about motherhood: the breastfeeding, the sacrificing of your body – it’s completely life-altering. I’ve had three kids, who I really want to give lots of time to, so with each I have worked part-time until they turned three. (My youngest is two.) It’s totally worth it, and I’m so grateful I’m able to do it like this, but it means I’ve had to learn to make peace with less capacity for work. I have to constantly remind myself to accept when my capacity is limited and just to follow my own path.

Overcoming imposter syndrome took me a while. For example, it took completing my first edition of the fair in the role of director for me to feel fully comfortable in accepting I deserved the title. It’s hard to know whether it’s because I’m a woman, because I’ve got a northern accent, because I attended a comprehensive school that no one has heard of, or because the signet ring I wear has a pigeon on it instead of a family crest, but people make a lot of assumptions. I think I had to really work to prove myself before I was taken seriously. In a different way to some of my contemporaries perhaps. My vision for Photo London and our move to Olympia are completely entwined. Moving to a purpose-built venue like this means we can realise ideas we just couldn’t at Somerset House. This has been received really well by the photographic community. As well as the galleries who have been with us year on year, some who haven’t participated for a few years are returning, and others I’ve wanted to work with are joining us for the first time, bringing artists I adore. I’m really excited to be the director overseeing this transition and a redesign that is democratic for our exhibitors, simple for our visitors to explore, and gives us the platform we need to truly champion the art of collecting photography. I owe a lot to the Photo London curatorial committee. Our meetings are always incredibly inspiring, and the members have taught me so much. With their support, we’ve created something really special. I can’t wait for people to see it.

Muhammad-Ali Miami 1964-2001 by William Klein. Courtesy HackelBury Fine Art. Courtesy the artist

Save the date

Catherine Opie: To Be Seen

Sophie Parker’s current and upcoming must-sees on the UK’s photographic scene.

Oliver & Mrs. Nibbles by Catherine Opie, 2012 © Catherine Opie

I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from 1950 to Now

Ninagawa Mika, Untitled, 2003, Courtesy Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, and Aperture

Gender Stories

James Tissot, 'Portrait of Catherine Smith Gill and two of her children' (1877), courtesy The Walker Gallery

Lakwena Maciver, How We Build A Home is at Vigo Gallery until 14 December. The Dior Lady Art project launches its 10th anniversary edition on 13 November, with Maciver’s bags available in select Dior boutiques. Maciver’s bandana’s and afro combs are available from 29 November via the artist’s official channels, including lakwena.com.

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The best advice I can give is to be sincere, and to tell your own story in your own way. That’s what I’ve always tried to do, and I think it speaks to people’

IMAGES: Danika Magdalena

‘There’s something very powerful about turning everyday things into something extraordinary’

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Be curious, be interested and be prepared to pivot”

Two more artists on my radar right now are Ryan Prince and Alice Poyzer. I’m a real fan of Prince’s portraits of his family and extended family, which feel incredibly intimate, and have a real quietness and peace about them. Poyzer is on a (justified) meteoric rise at the moment. Her work – which is often a surreal combination of human and animal portraiture – is magical and I’m really excited to see where this year takes her. There are lots of shows I’m looking forward to in the coming months. The National Portrait Gallery is hosting Catherine Opie’s first major museum exhibition in the UK. I was introduced to Opie’s practice while at university and her photograph Self-Portrait/Cutting has always stuck with me. I’m excited to see so much of her work in one place. I saw I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from 1950 to Now at Les Rencontres d’Arles, the annual French photography festival, in 2024. It was a highlight of the festival for me, so I’m really glad it’s travelling to The Photographers’ Gallery in London, and am excited to be reacquainted with the exhibition in this iteration. In Liverpool, Gender Stories at The Walker traces the spectrum of genders and their expression across time and place, and features some of my favourite artists, including Rene Matić and Zanele Muholi. And, of course, I’m looking forward to Photo London.

LAKWENA ATELIER © JAMES ROBJANT

Monalisen der Vorstädte (Adda, Reykjavik) by Ute und Werner Mahler, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Peter Sillem. Courtesy the artist

It took completing my first edition of the fair in the role of director for me to feel fully comfortable in accepting I deserved the title”

Galerie Bacquerville at Photo London 2025

Sophie Parker, image credit: Andi Galdi Vinko

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A childhood spent visiting galleries with her mother meant that Sophie Parker fell under art’s spell from an early age. After completing a degree in History of Art and Design in her home city Manchester, she moved to London to undertake a Master’s at Goldsmiths University, before

National Portrait Gallery. Until 31 May.

Sophie Parker, image credit: Matthew Benson

Untitled, From the series A Survey of Family by Ryan Prince Courtesy the artist

Butterfly Self Portrait, 2024 by Alice Poyzer from her series 'Other Joys. Courtesy the artist

Maisie Cousins Walking Back to Happiness, courtesy the artist and TJ Boulting Gallery. Courtesy the artist

The Photographers’ Gallery, 19 June–27 September

Walker Art Gallery, 16 May–31 August

Sophie Parker, image credit Billy Allen, winner of the Photo London Young Student Award 2025