Water in London: a photographer's eye view

What does water mean to a Londoner? A choppy Thames on a winter morning? Rain collecting in the busy streets? The ornate jet of a Georgian fountain glimpsed through iron railings?

In 2025, 32 members of the RPS London Region set out to answer that question for themselves, and the result was a photobook and outdoor exhibition that brought their work to the heart of the capital.

Water emerged as a theme at the London Region's January 2025 AGM, but rather than imposing a narrow definition, organisers deliberately kept the brief wide. Photographers were encouraged to interpret the subject through whichever style or genre suited them best, and the diversity that followed was striking.

Abstract studies sat alongside street photography; contemporary compositions appeared next to more traditional landscape work. The breadth of the final collection was not a by-product of loose thinking, but the whole point. 

Over the course of the project, the participating photographers met monthly via Zoom, uploading images for critique and helping each other develop their ideas. More than 250 photographs were submitted in total, each one a different window on the same city.

Turning that body of work into a public exhibition required a different kind of effort. A separate volunteer team reviewed the photographs and selected two images from each photographer, working from a pool of eight to ten submissions per person.

The chosen images were designed into 17 panels, and in early 2026 those panels were installed on the railings outside Southwark Cathedral in central London, one of the city's most visited public spaces.

The installation itself had its lighter moments. As volunteers hung the panels, passers-by stopped to look. Some spoke no English, but as one volunteer noted, that turned out not to matter much: photography is a universal language. 

Alongside the exhibition, a separate volunteer group produced a photobook drawing on the full collection of over 250 images. After reviewing photobooks from previous projects, the team agreed on the size, format, and structure, working through the sequencing and design layout together before the book went to print.

Fifteen volunteers contributed across the four teams, with several lending their time to more than one strand of the project. It is, in its way, a reflection of how the London Region operates: a core group of regular volunteers who run nine or more monthly events, with others drawn in for one-off activities like this. When the community is functioning well, it tends to generate its own momentum. 

For the photographers themselves, the reward was seeing their work in print and on public display. For the volunteer teams, it was the satisfaction of a complex project brought successfully to completion. For everyone involved, it was a reminder of what our photography community can achieve when collaboration is at the heart of our efforts. 

The London Region is already looking ahead. Two new projects are under way for 2026: one exploring the everyday life, communities, and cultures of the city, with around 60 photographers each contributing a personal mini-project, and another showcasing street photography from the region's regular monthly walks. 

We look forward to seeing even more projects this year across our regions, special interest groups, and chapters that continue to celebrate our amazing community of photographers and their work. 

Image credits: David Hicks