Last week’s Photo London left a slight bittersweet taste for me. The fair brings together a great selection of galleries and it is a must-see for anyone interested in photography. However, there was an overwhelming presence of fashion photography and female portraiture. At worse banal and celebrity-driven, at best a lush sensuous rich experience.

After the Kate Moss overdose, Helmut Newton’s ubiquitous iconic images of determined women, Horst P. Horst’s timeless classics, Irving Penn’s soft touch, Norman Parkinson’s old-world glamour, Miles Aldridge’s dolls… the penny dropped heavy. With the exception of very few works dotted around by Lillian Bassman, Sarah Moon and Ellen von Unwerth, a wander around the fair felt like I had been transported to another time, ignoring the contemporary appetite for female voices. The male gaze was starting to give away a rancid whiff.