Every October the East End of London becomes the biggest photography gallery in the country with over 200 exhibitions and events taking place in more than 100 venues showing the work of emerging and internationally renowned photographers. It’s a great opportunity to explore this end of the city and enjoy not only the extraordinary diversity of contemporary photography but also a highly distinctive district with a remarkable history and a fantastic variety of cafes, bars and restaurants.

www.photomonth.org
Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Newham in East London. All on the new East London Line.
Google map: bit.ly/gebyCw

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Photo Museum/gallery in one of the loveliest bits of Moscow. Inside I've never seen a boring photo. Sometimes a little subversive, always entertaining, so well composed it's like Eisenstein himself curates. Often they have photos showing what it's like outside Moscow, which show the awesome beauty, and often desolation of the country. There's always a couple of exhibitions, generally a historical or landscape alongside a celeb-focused or art shoot. In a small-ish space, a lot of variety. Cheap to get in too! Price varies, but generally around £5 mark.

www.mdf.ru/english/
16 Ostozhenka str., Moscow 119034, Russia
+7 (495) 637-11-00
Google map: bit.ly/hYNduU
Novoslobodskaya Metro.

Suchevskaya ulitsa, 14, Tel:8 (495) 231-33-25

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Fantastic small gallery with some of the most innovative exhibitions in the city. Best to plan ahead and set aside some time if you are interested in the video pieces. Very helpful and friendly staff as well.

23 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1BP
+44 (0) 131 622 6200
www.stills.org
Google map: bit.ly/gRiRmm

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A tiny basement gallery showcasing local and some farther reaching photography, but mostly unheardofs, embracing new and often unconventional approaches in cosy surrounds. Rapid turnover of shows so always something new to see.

www.photographique.co.uk/
31 Baldwin Street, Bristol BS1 1RG
+44(0)117 930 0622
Google map: bit.ly/hhkBhJ

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The Nederland Fotomuseum is THE photography gallery in Rotterdam. The Chema Madoz exhibition was a very clever, sometimes humorous, collection of black and white images. It really captured my attention and impressed me with the creative and innovative ideas behind each photograph. It was refreshing to find an art exhibition that I could enjoy, understand and actually sink my teeth into.

www.nederlandsfotomuseum.nl/index.php?lang=en
Las Palmas Building, Wilhelminakade 332
NL-3072 AR Rotterdam
+31 (0)10-203 04 05
Google map: bit.ly/hBtBvu

Nederlands Fotomuseum
(Las Palmas Building)
Wilhelminakade 332
NL-3072 AR Rotterdam
The Netherlands

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I was living in Beijing when the Gallery started, and it is for me the fondest memory I keep of the Dashanzi contemporary art district.
Founded by a French couple, it was one of the first galleries to expose exclusively photography - young Chinese photographers and the work of international artists on China. Over the last four years, it has slowly expanded, opened in Paris, and gained a bit of a reputation, eventually showing Martin Parr's first exhibition in China.
You will find there a good collection, every time, and great helpful staff. And good wines at openings! A must do when passing in Dashanzi.

The 798 Art District, Dashanzi, 4 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, 100015 Beijing, China
+86 (0) 10 59 78 92 62
www.parisbeijingphotogallery.com/
Google map: bit.ly/gHLcjH

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It is a photography gallery in the centre of Amsterdam. Not only do they put on a variety of excellent shows but the gallery and the architecture is worth a visit too. I have memories of cycling through the snow in Amsterdam and arriving at the gallery, getting into the warm and spending the afternoon looking around the show, the shop, the library and the building - the whole package!

Keizersgracht 609, 1017 DS Amsterdam
www.foam.org/foam-amsterdam
+31 (0)20 5516500
Google map; bit.ly/h5s4VH

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Not a gallery in the accepted sense, nevertheless a Georgian square in Edinburgh's New Town has been transformed into an outdoor gallery displaying amazing, giant sized natural history photographs. The exhibition is part of the city’s Science Festival and runs until May 1st. Many more people were admiring the work displayed in this setting than I’ve seen visiting more conventional galleries.

St Andrew's Square, Edinburgh
www.sciencefestival.co.uk
Google map: bit.ly/f9zD4n

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Quirky but familiar, intimate yet communal; for a photography gallery with a difference visit the "Tardis" of Settle, North Yorkshire - 'The Gallery On The Green'. Step inside the classic red phone booth and you are transported to wherever the images take you. The charm of the smallest gallery in the world has inspired not only the local community but even guitarist and astronomer Brian May supported a 3D exhibition of stereoscopic photographs. Here small really is beautiful.

www.galleryonthegreen.org.uk/
Upper Settle, BD24 9HG

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Just beyond the Roman Arch on Qeimarieh Street in Damascus's Old City is the tiny Summers Gallery, which showcases and sells signed photographs by British freelance journalist John Wreford. Wreford's outsider's take on the Middle East and especially Syria (where he lives) is totally original, free of cliche and often humorous. Check out his pictures of Damascus's pigeon fanciers.

Summers Gallery, near the Roman Arch (just south of Nofara cafe), Old City Damascus. Call John Wreford's mobile if you can't find it 00963 944 361 947. www.johnwreford.com

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Kiran Chitrakar is a cameraman for Nepal State Television and his father and grandfather were court photographers. Kiran has inherited their vast photographic archive, all on large glass negative slides, which he keeps at home. A visit to Kiran is not only a fascinating experience, but it is also the chance to peruse the photographs as high-quality black and white prints, and to purchase some as a really original, reasonably-priced holiday souvenir. There are photographs of 1950s (and earlier) Nepali life as well as well-known monuments such as Bouddhanath before tourism changed Nepal.

Kiran's mobile number is 00977 9851 061961. Arrange to meet him so that he can take you to his house. He lives in Bhimsensthan, near Kathmandu's Durbar Square.
Google map: bit.ly/gb8uPX

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This compelling gallery in Dubrovnik is dedicated to the work of war photographers, and shows exhibitions from wars around the globe, as well as the Balkan conflict. The powerful images are both hard hitting and heartbreaking, and show people struggling to live their daily lives through wars which are brutal and often misunderstood. It is certainly not easy viewing, but I cannot recommend this gallery enough. These are the lives and deaths of real people, and I urge you to rise to the emotional challenge.

Antuninska 6, 20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia
+385 20 322 166
www.warphotoltd.com/
Google map: bit.ly/ezaK8l

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