Photo London 2026
To mark this year’s fair, we invited four artists to show us the capital through their eyes. Plus: feminist photo collage, Thomas Duffield on father-son relations and an interview with The Photographer’s Gallery director
The glory of low expectations
They are the key to happiness — and not a matter of choice
Hendrix and the curse of the charismatic frontman
A recent court case over the rights to the rock star’s catalogue highlights the struggles of musicians seeking their due
The comeback of Narendra Modi
Two years after losing its majority, the BJP is now taking opposition strongholds and paving the prime minister’s way for a fourth term in office
WHSmith’s new owner makes a contrarian bet on the UK high street
Modella Capital plans to cut as many as 150 WHSmith stores out of the 480 it acquired and bring in new goods and services
The Iranian ‘mosquito fleet’ taking on the mighty US Navy
Tehran’s hundreds of small, fast boats are vital in maintaining its stranglehold on global energy markets
Standard Life and CVC square the circle on defined-benefit pensions
There are more than £1tn of assets sitting in UK retirement schemes that could be picked up in risk transfer deals
Who are the tastemakers now?
Few influencers have the same cultural gravitas as the late American heiress Bunny Mellon
Europe’s €14tn cash pile benefits banks not retail investors, BlackRock warns
World’s largest asset manager says governments must address under-investment of retail money in capital markets
Retail investors turn away from commercial property holdings
Rising interest rates and lower demand have hit returns in the past decade
Trump, Xi and the bid for a ‘grand bargain’ between superpowers
As the US president prepares to visit Beijing, America no longer holds all the cards — but China knows it must tread carefully
Hannah Barry on turning a Peckham car park into a cultural hotbed
Ahead of a new season of the Bold Tendencies festival, its founder reflects on its impact for artists and communities
The sailors who keep ‘ghost’ tankers moving
Working on an oil tanker under sanctions was a job like any other — until they ended up in the line of fire
Inside the White House’s most inscrutable marriage. (No not that one)
What the union of Stephen and Katie Miller says about Maga world
Why is central London one long pizza queue?
Viral pizza-slingers like Crisp have given a timeless formula fresh appeal
We are living in the age of the middleman
Special envoys are the new peacemakers precisely because they are unburdened by diplomatic expertise
The places where we seek wisdom
In a world seemingly obsessed with youth, we can easily miss the gifts that come from our elders
Housebuilders scale back as Iran war and interest rates mute demand
Cuts to earnings guidance and land purchases cast doubt on whether government will meet 1.5mn new homes target
Fujianese food deserves to be the next Chinese cuisine to go global
Your Sichuan hotpot may well be cooked by workers from Fujian. Why is their own food so underrated abroad?
House & Home Wellbeing & Active Living Special 2026
How do homes hold the secret to a long and healthy life? We head to Blue Zones in Sardinia, speak to longevity doctors ‘diagnosing’ houses, gardeners working with dementia patients and farmers installing padel courts — and more
Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel on art, fakery and how ‘cinema has grown up’
With timely themes for age of AI, their film ‘The Christophers’ portrays clashing artists who form a close bond — much as the stars did on set
Taiwanese artist Wu Chia Yun on home and homeland
‘Family and nation naturally become inescapable questions in my life’
A morning with Shoair Mavlian, director of The Photographers’ Gallery
How to survive — and thrive — as an arts organisation at a time of AI imagery, funding cuts and ‘woke’ backlash
Thomas Duffield documents a father-son relationship after years of estrangement
‘We have got past the small talk and have begun to make friends with the elephant in the room’